WORCESTER, Mass. (November 5, 2016) – Junior middle hitter Hannah St. Jean (Olympia, Wash.) tallied a season-high 16 kills, a .609 hitting percentage and game-best five total blocks as the Franklin Pierce women's volleyball team won their fourth straight Northeast-10 contest by a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 26-24) margin against Assumption College on Saturday afternoon at the Laska Gymnasium. The win improves the Crimson and Grey to 10-13, 6-5 NE-10 and the loss drops the Greyhounds to 5-17, 2-10 NE-10.

The victory was the Ravens fourth in a row and the squad has now won five of their last seven matches. The past three Pierce wins have all come by 3-0 scores.

Katie Leidhold (Acushnet, Mass.) added 14 kills, 20 digs and two assists during the win. Freshman Danielle Varricchio (Boynton Beach, Fla.) chipped in six kills, 12 digs, three total blocks and a service ace. On the defensive end, Brittney Carias (Burlingame, Calif.) recorded 17 digs while racking up a team-high four service aces. Junior setter Hannah Runge (Deltona, Fla.) dished out 39 helpers as well.

In set one, the Crimson and Grey held a sizeable 21-11 advantage when St. Jean killed off a set from Runge which made the hosts use their last timeout of the set. After the stoppage, the Greyhounds embarked on an 8-0 scoring binge to cut their deficit to a manageable two points, 21-19. Another St. Jean kill from Runge stopped the Assumption run as the Ravens scored four points to the Greyhounds two to win the set 25-21.

The second set saw the Crimson and Grey start out fast with an 11-1 run of their own using services from Madison Klusendorf (Santa Maria, Calif.) and Carias. The sophomore defensive specialist recorded three service aces during her four serves which put the Ravens up big early on. The closest the Greyhounds would come to the Ravens was 16-13 on an ace by Maria Chrisom. FPU closed out the set strong, outscoring their counterparts 9-4 to take the set 25-17.

Set three included numerous ties and lead changes and a 6-0 Greyhound run with Julia Goyette serving which put the hosts on the brink of a third set win, 19-14. After a Pierce timeout, the Crimson and Grey embarked on a run of their own, tallying eight points to trail by two, 21-19. Assumption tried to slow the Ravens momentum, but Pierce kept battling and took the lead on a Klusendorf kill which forced another Greyhound timeout.

After a Leidhold kill to go up 24-23, on match point the Crimson and Grey allowed Goyette to tie the contest at 24 all. On the next serve, the hosts committed an attack error and St. Jean ended the contest with a solo block of Oliva Burke to win the set, 26-24 and the match 3-0.

The Ravens wrap up their season next week with three home games, the first coming versus American International on Tuesday, November 8th 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).