Swiderski puts down match-best 17 kills

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (November 15, 2013) – Senior outside hitter Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.) racked up 14 kills and 21 digs while hitting .268 over 41 attempts on Friday night, and sophomore outside hitter Sydni Schulz (Cypress, Texas) added16 kills on a .238 hitting percentage over 42 attempts as the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team notched a 3-1 win over Southern Connecticut State in Northeast-10 Conference play at Pelz Gymnasium. Freshman outside hitter Nicole Hauser hit a match-best .385 with 11 kills and 13 digs to lead SCSU in the loss.

With the win, Franklin Pierce concludes the regular season at 14-7 (9-5 Northeast-10), while Southern Connecticut State falls to 17-13 (5-9 Northeast-10). The Ravens took the first set, 25-22, before SCSU bounced back with a 25-23 win in the second set. The third set went long, before Franklin Pierce took it at 26-24, and the Ravens then went on to finish the match with a 25-20 win in the third set.

Franklin Pierce had already clinched its spot in the Northeast-10 Championship with a win at home on Tuesday night against Southern New Hampshire. By virtue of Saint Rose's defeat of Bentley in Albany, N.Y. on Friday night, the Ravens know they will finish no higher than fifth and face a road match in the Championship's quarterfinal round on Tuesday night. Saturday's matches will determine whether the team finishes fifth, sixth or seventh, and will also decide its quarterfinal opponent.

After three nail-biting sets on Friday night, Franklin Pierce was able to open a modest gap in the latter stages of the fourth set on the way to finishing off the match. With the set tied at 13-13, the Ravens ran off the next six points to jump to a 19-13 lead they would never relinquish. Three different players had kills in the run for Franklin Pierce, while SCSU errors made up the other three points. After an SCSU kill, Franklin Pierce put together three more points -- again on kills from three different players -- to extend the run to 9-1 and push the lead to 22-14. SCSU would use a late run to cut the gap to four points at 24-20, but then junior outside hitter Catie Swiderski (Rocky Point, N.Y.) put the match away with her 17th and final kill of the night.

Swiderski led all players in kills in the match, but also added 10 errors to hit .132 as part of a Franklin Pierce offense which hit only .184 on the night, thanks in no small part to a 13-block effort by the SCSU defense. The Franklin Pierce defense was equally frustrating for the SCSU attack, as 83 digs over the four sets (20.75 per set) held the Owls to a .199 hitting percentage.

The Ravens got nearly all of their offense from the Ray-Schulz-Swiderski trio, with no other player topping five kills on Friday. The trio worked off the set of senior Stephanie Svorinic (Scottsdale, Ariz.), who put together another big effort, as she dished out assists on 54 (13.50 assists per set) of Franklin Pierce's 61 kills. Franklin Pierce piled up eight aces, led by three from sophomore defensive specialist Sarah MacHugh (Red Hook, N.Y.). More importantly, the Ravens made only one service error in the match. In contrast, SCSU collected six aces, but cancelled out their value with six service errors.

Defensively, senior libero Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) led all players with 24 digs (6.00 per set). She led five Ravens in double digits, as Ray topped 20 as well and MacHugh, Svorinic and Schulz added 10 each. Up front, Franklin Pierce's blocking effort came back to Earth with five blocks, after posting nine or more in three of the last four matches. Schulz was a part of three blocks (one solo), while senior middle Katie Jackson (Centennial, Colo.) added a pair of solo stuffs.

For SCSU, senior outside hitter Jade Black joined Hauser in double digits with a team-best 12 kills while hitting .211. Sophomore middle Olivia Lathrop and senior middle Sarah Beres chipped in eight kills each, with the former hitting .350 over 20 attempts. The Owls ran the offense through the dual set of Hauser (25 assists) and sophomore Taylor Carlson (20).

Defensively, Black led the team with 19 digs. She was joined in double digits by three of her teammates: sophomore libero Morgan Carman (18 digs), senior outside hitter Lauren McVey (15) and Hauser (13). Both Beres and Lathrop were a part of six blocks on the evening, with the latter mixing in one solo block.

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).