NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (October 18, 2016) – The Franklin Pierce women's volleyball team broke their five game losing streak on Tuesday evening with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-21) sweep of Northeast-10 Conference foe Merrimack at Hammel Court. With the win, the Ravens improve to 6-11, 2-3 NE-10 and the loss sends the Warriors to 4-18, 2-5 NE-10.

The Crimson and Grey's net presence was evident in this game as they tallied 15 total blocks to the opponents four.

Katie Leidhold (Acushnet, Mass.) led the offensive attack with a game-best 10 kills. Hannah Runge (Deltona, Fla.) was a factor all over the floor as she recorded three kills, a match-high 29 assists, a team-high eight digs to go along with two total blocks. Abigail Sonuga (Haverhill, Mass.) led the block party with a game-high six total bocks. Freshman Abigail Garnhart (Colorado Springs, Colo.) hit a team-best .600 on the evening with six kills and a solo stuff.

Set one saw numerous ties and lead changes in the early going. A Merrimack kill from Jennifer Cain cut the Pierce lead to two points, 9-7. Two straight points from the visitors put their lead back up to four thanks to a Runge service ace. The Warriors added two points on Raven errors before FPU went on a 7-2 run that was capped off by a Madison Klusendorf (Santa Maria, Calif.) kill from Runge to make it 19-11. Merrimack outscored the Crimson and Grey by a 5-1 margin to cut their lead to 20-16, but it wasn't enough as the visitors took set one 25-17.

The second set started off the same way as the first with both squads trading points and possessions back and forth for the majority of the set. A 5-2 mini run for FPU made it a three point, 17-14 lead which forced Merrimack to cool the Ravens momentum with a timeout.

After the stoppage, Merrimack added three straight points with two of them coming off kills by Cain which knotted the score up at 17. Runge took over service duties and led the Ravens offense with five straight points. She set up two of her teammates for kills and chalked up two service aces which put her squad up 22-17. The game of runs continued as the Warriors came within one, 22-21 with four straight points which made the Ravens use a timeout. The break seemed to work in the Ravens favor as a Hannah St. Jean (Olympia, Wash.) kill gave them the second set 25-22.

Merrimack jumped out to a 3-1 lead early in the final set before FPU notched four consecutive points to go up 5-3. A Raven service error accounted for the next point, but it didn't deter the guests as they jumped out to a 10-5 advantage. The Crimson and Grey's lead grew to seven, 17-10 which made Merrimack use their final timeout. The closest Merrimack got to the lead in the set was three points as Pierce put their opponent away for good.

Madison Klusendorf racked up eight kills, six digs, two assists and one block. Hannah St. Jean hit .357 to go along with six kills, two digs and two blocks.

The Ravens return to the court on Friday for the second game of their three game road trip versus NE-10 opponent Saint Rose at 7:00 p.m.

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 cross country apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).