Balanced Attack Leads Penmen to Conference Win Over Ravens

RINDGE, N.H. (October 7, 2017) – Franklin Pierce University volleyball junior outside hitter Brittney Carias (Burlingame, Calif,) paced the Raven offense with a team-high seven kills to go along with 10 digs on the defense end as Southern New Hampshire University came into the Fieldhouse and handed the Crimson and Grey a 3-0 (17-25, 19-25, 15-25) loss in Northeast-10 Conference action. With the victory, the Penmen improve to 6-9 overall and 2-4 NE10 while the setback sends the Ravens to 4-11, 2-2 NE10.

The guests outhit and outblocked the hosts in the duel as both teams thrived during service with the Penmen tallying seven service aces while the Ravens added five.

The duo of Marisa Coronis and Priscila Castro recorded double-digit kills for SNHU as Coronis led all players with 11 kills. On defense, Castro was one of two players on her squad to rack up double-digit digs with 12.

Raven outside hitter Sam Bitner (Titusville, Fla.) set a new personal-high with seven kills while blocking two attempts. Libero Jocelyn Moody (Biddeford, Maine) notched a match-high 19 digs, Hannah Runge (Deltona, Fla.) dished out a team-best 21 assists and sophomore middle blocker Abigail Garnhart (Colorado Springs, Colo.) tallied four stuffs.

In the first set, SNHU put up five consecutive points to begin the match with four of the five markers coming on Raven attack errors. Franklin Pierce took an early timeout to regroup and scored back-to-back points on a Danielle Varricchio (Boynton Beach, Fla.) kill and a Runge service ace. The Penmen would take a commanding 13-2 lead midway through the set by racking up an 8-0 scoring binge as Amanda Costales did most of the damage through service with three straight aces during the run.

Bitner brought the Ravens deficit to single figures at 15-6 as she successfully killed off a set from Runge. A 5-1 mini-spurt by the Penmen upped their lead to 20-7. The Ravens closed the gap to eight points, 23-15 following an 8-1 run of their own that was capped off by a Carias kill from the left side. SNHU eventually won the set 25-17 off a Raven attack error.

There were a ton of service aces in the first set as both squads recorded nine of the combined match total of 12 aces.

The second set was a lot closer than the first as the Ravens climbed out of an early 6-2 hole to pull within two at 8-6 after Garnhart rifled a rocket onto the Penmen side of the court. Franklin Pierce hovered around keeping the set within a few possessions until four straight markers with two coming from the connection of Joanne Coffey and Marisa Coronis bumped the advantage to 18-11 in favor of SNHU. FPU made the set a four-possession game as freshman Mary Pease (East Haddam, Conn.) lofted a set to Bitner who cut the Penmen lead to 20-16. SNHU would outscore the Ravens 5-3 over the remainder of the set to take a commanding 2-0 match lead.

SNHU jumped ahead early in the third set taking a 5-0 lead before the Ravens hoped to stop momentum with a timeout. The stoppage didn't work as SNHU continued to build the third set lead to an 11-1 margin after an Amanda Costales service ace. Three straight blocks by the Penmen upped their lead to 18-6, but the Ravens made a late run to drop the Penmen advantage to seven following a Hannah St. Jean (Olympia, Wash.) solo block. SNHU would score the final three points of the match as a Carolyn Scacchi kill concluded the match.

The Ravens head out on the road for one contest, a 7:00 p.m. duel with NE10 opponent American International College on Tuesday.

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).