Defense puts together 84-dig, nine-block night

RINDGE, N.H. (November 12, 2013) – Sophomore outside hitter Sydni Schulz (Cypress, Texas) hammered out a career-best 21 kills and hit .292 on Tuesday night, and junior outside hitter Catie Swiderski (Rocky Point, N.Y.) added 14 kills and hit a match-best .371 as the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team picked up a 3-1 win over Southern New Hampshire in Northeast-10 Conference play in the Fieldhouse. With the victory, Franklin Pierce clinched its second consecutive berth in the Northeast-10 Championship.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 13-7 (8-5 Northeast-10), while Southern New Hampshire falls to 12-11 (7-6 Northeast-10). Franklin Pierce was dominant in a 25-13 win in the first set, before squeaking out a 27-25 win in the second set. SNHU got on the board with a 26-24 win in the third set, and then the Ravens finished things off in the fourth, 25-17.

After a pair of tightly contested sets and giving away a 24-22 lead in the third set, Franklin Pierce was still looking to close things out in the fourth set. At 6-6, the Ravens ran off five straight points and six of the next seven -- including a pair of kills by senior right side Ashley Bruce (Hampton Falls, N.H.) -- to jump to a 12-7 lead and never looked back. SNHU would never get closer than three points the rest of the way.

For Franklin Pierce -- which hit .256 on the evening -- Schulz and Swiderski were the primary targets, as they were set 48 and 35 times, respectively, but senior outside hitter Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.) mixed in eight kills while hitting .214 over 28 swings and senior middle Katie Jackson (Centennial, Colo.) added seven kills and hit .200 over 20 attempts. Senior setter Stephanie Svorinic (Scottsdale, Ariz.) was on-point as the offense's distributor all night, as she dished out assists on 52 of Franklin Pierce's 60 kills (13.00 assists/set), all without committing a ball-handling error.

If the offense was good, the defense was even better, as it piled up 84 digs (21.00 per set) and nine blocks (2.25 per set) on the night. Senior libero Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) led four players in double digits for the Ravens with a match-best 29 digs. She was joined by Schulz (16 digs), Ray (11) and Svorinic (10). Up front, Jackson and freshman middle Aiden Garcia (Eagle Pass, Texas) each factored in on four blocks each (one solo each).

The service game was mostly a wash throughout the night, with Franklin Pierce serving up six aces to SNHU's five.

Sophomore middle Emma Houlihan led a SNHU attack which hit just .112 on the night with 15 kills, but also made 39 errors to hit .179. Sophomore outside hitter Nina McGouldrick joined her in double figures with 12 kills, but also made eight errors for a .087 hitting percentage. Of the three Penmen to receive 30-or-more sets, two posted sub-.100 hitting percentages, as senior right side Ashlee Daoust hit .094 with nine kills and six errors. SNHU ran the offense through sophomore setter Catherine Cotton, who recorded 38 assists.

On defense, sophomore libero Maeghan Higgins (23 digs) and junior right side Kendra Mikuta (10) each reached double digits. Both Houlihan and Cotton notched three block assists up front.

The Ravens return to the court on Friday, Nov. 15, when they travel to Southern Connecticut State for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Pelz Gymnasium in New Haven, Conn.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce volleyball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).