COLCHESTER, Vt. (October 17, 2017) – Junior outside hitter Brittney Carias (Burlingame, Calif.) tallied seven kills, a .467 hitting percentage and 15 digs as the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team topped Northeast-10 Conference opponent Saint Michael's College 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-15) Tuesday evening at the Ross Sports Center. With the win, the Crimson and Grey snap a three-game losing skid earning their fifth win overall while improving to 3-4 in league play. The loss was the 11th of the season for the Purple Knights.

Franklin Pierce's net presence played key in their victory as they outblocked Saint Michael's by a 17-10 margin. Team captain Hannah St. Jean (Olympia, Wash.) and sophomore middle blocker Abigail Garnhart (Colorado Springs, Colo.) led all players with four blocks apiece. Sophomore outside hitter Danielle Varricchio (Boynton Beach, Fla.) tallied a match-high 10 kills to go along with nine digs and three stuffs. Senior setter Hannah Runge (Deltona, Fla.) dished out a contest-best 32 assists as well.

Franklin Pierce held a 2-0 lead in the early stages of the first set as St. Jean and Runge connected on a kill while Jocelyn Moody (Biddeford, Maine), on the next possession blasted a service ace. SMC quickly tied the set with two straight points before the Ravens moved ahead 8-4 on the strength of a 6-2 mini-binge. Franklin Pierce maintained the lead throughout the set until blocks by Runge and St. Jean gave FPU their biggest lead of the set at 18-10. The Purple Knights crept back into it by outscoring the Crimson and Grey 4-1 over the next few serves to cut their deficit to five, 19-14. Trailing 22-17, SMC looked to cut into the Raven lead even more, but Pierce put the set away with three straight markers that were capped off by a Sam Bitner (Titusville, Fla.) kill.

Set two saw the Purple Knights move up 3-1 using a Tanner Barton kill. Their advantage hovered around two points until the Ravens recaptured the lead, 8-7 with three straight points via three Purple Knight errors. The squads swapped points through the middle portion of the set, then the Ravens notched three in a row using kills from Ofeira Petaia (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Garnhart to give the Crimson and Grey a three-point, 19-16 lead. Saint Michael's cut the set to two possessions as SMC's Gabby Ratte notched back-to-back kills to tie the contest at 21 all which led the Ravens to take a timeout. Following the stoppage, the Ravens closed the set with the final four points as Garnhart rocked the ball off a players arm to give FPU a commanding 2-0 match edge.

St. Jean began the third set with an easy kill into the middle of the court to give FPU the first point. SMC led 4-3 after a Raven attack error, but FPU made up for the miscue by going on a 4-1 scoring run which was capped off by a dual block from Garnhart and Varricchio as the Ravens lead by four, 8-4. Two stuffs by McKenzie McNamara and Jillian Harvie brought the Raven lead down to three, 11-8, but the Ravens upped their advantage to double figures 19-9 using an 8-1 scoring run. Saint Michael's stayed in the match by cutting the deficit to single figures, but the Ravens closed out the match with a 25-15 third set win.

The Ravens hope to carry their momentum into a NE10 duel on Friday versus Pace at 6:00 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 volleyball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).