RINDGE, N.H. (October 23, 2015) – Freshman Katie Leidhold (Acushnet, Mass.) put a new meaning on "bringing the thunder" on Friday night, as she alone slammed home 27 kills, which is thought to be fourth-most in a single game in Franklin Pierce Volleyball program history, as she aided the Ravens to a 3-2 nail-biting win over the College of Saint Rose Golden Knights at the Fieldhouse. Program records are post-2000, as they are incomplete before that year.

With the win, Franklin Pierce has now won seven of their last eight, improving to 12-6 (6-1 Northeast-10). They now also jump over Bentley in the Northeast-10 standings into second place, as the Falcons drew a loss to Adelphi Friday night as well.

The first set played out in extra time, as the Ravens and Golden Knights went to the brink, as neither team held a significant lead during the whole set, with a lead going no larger than three points. However, it looked Saint Rose was going to wrap things up late, up 23-20 after a kill by Rachel Salasky. Franklin Pierce then called a timeout, and straight out of it came a kill by sophomore Hannah St. Jean (Olympia, Wash.). Saint Rose then called a timeout, and lost yet another point out of the timeout on the attack error. With the score now 23-22, two more attack errors gave the Ravens the 24-23 lead with a chance to win.

The circus then started again with both teams trading points, until the Ravens were up 29-28. Franklin Pierce could not shut the door, as they gave up three straight points to the Golden Knights, all on kills, as Saint Rose took the set 31-29 and would go up 1-0 in the match.

Set two showed as a nice comeback win for the Ravens, as they would go down 15-8 midway through, with Saint Rose controlling play. However, Franklin Pierce would then go on a 11-3 run to the set at 18-18 after a kill by St. Jean to tie, and ultimately take the 19-18 lead thanks to a kill by sophomore Madison Klusendorf (Santa Maria, Calif.). The Ravens would not give up the lead the rest of the set, and would use a Leidhold kill to end the set, 25-21 to tie things at 1-1.

Things would begin to get dicey in set three for the Ravens, as Saint Rose would once again get the best of the crimson and grey, jumping out to an early lead at 15-10. The Ravens would once again charge back, and tie the set at 16-16 before the Golden Knights would take off again. Though Franklin Pierce stayed on their tail, Saint Rose would not surrender a lead, and take set three 25-22, going up 2-1 and setting up two must-win sets for the Ravens to keep their win streak alive.

Franklin Pierce would take that deficit to heart and do just what they needed to do: win the final two sets for victory. In the fourth set, Franklin Pierce charged out to the lead and paced play while Saint Rose began to commit some errors to extend the Ravens' lead. Franklin Pierce would take the set 25-20 and push the match to a fifth and final set.

The final set looked as if the Ravens would coast to victory, as they jumped out to a big lead early, going up 8-1 in a set to 15. After switching sides, it seemed Saint Rose found the same luck. The Golden Knights then charged back to tie the match at 9-9, putting the match in to a pressure packed situation. But it would be the Ravens to prevail, outscoring Saint Rose down the stretch 6-2 to take the 15-11 win, and wrapping up the match 3-2.

Both teams played strong at the net, as the Ravens recorded eight total team blocks, with freshman Abigail Sonuga (Haverhill, Mass.) would have a hand in six of the eight. Jennifer Gundrum put her hand in four blocks for Saint Rose, as the Golden Knights had seven total as a team.

Leidhold's out-of-this-universe numbers led all players on the court for the match, as she recorded a double-double, leading the Ravens in kills and also digs with 23. She also hit .302 with 63 total attack attempts, finishing second in that category to Sonuga, who hit .385 on the night while recording seven kills. St. Jean was the other Raven in double-figure digs with a season-high 14 while hitting .208.

Junior Aiden Garcia (Eagle Pass, Texas) also got into the scoring club on the night recording eight kills, while Klusendorf finished her night with six.

Klusendorf did most of her work on the defensive end, scooping up 18 digs. However, behind Leidhold's team-leading 23 fell seniors Sarah MacHugh (Red Hook, N.Y.) and Catherine Purdy (Ossining, N.Y.) who each eclipsed 20 kills for the match, making big plays when it counted. MacHugh made 23 digs, while Purdy dug up 20 on the night. The offense ran through sophomore setter Hannah Runge (Deltona, Fla.), as she was the beneficiary of a top-three season performance of 54 assists on the night.

For Saint Rose, Maryellen Devic led the high-powered Golden Knights offense with 16 kills, while Salasky and Gundrum were the only others in double-digits with 14 and 11, respectively. Gundrum showed off her stout ability by hitting her 11 kills while also hitting .500 for the match to go along with her team-leading blocks.

Devic and Salasky also finished with double-doubles by recording 14 and 18 digs, while Sam Kubik and Erica Ziskin also did the same. The setter duo for Saint Rose each played significant roles on each side of the ball, as Kubik had a team-leading number of assists with 27 and 12 digs, while Ziskin had 19 assists and 10 digs. Leading all Golden Knights in digs was libero Samantha Atchinson, who recorded 27 digs.

The Ravens return to the court tomorrow, Saturday, October 24 when they play their third straight home game, and play host to LeMoyne starting at 1 p.m. at the Fieldhouse.

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).