Highlights

RINDGE, N.H. (October 31, 2017) – Sophomore outside hitter Danielle Varricchio (Boynton Beach, Fla.) hit .412 while adding eight kills and 13 digs as the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team made quick work of Northeast-10 Conference opponent Saint Anselm College by sweeping the Hawks 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-21) on athletes backing athletes night Tuesday in a packed Fieldhouse.

With the win, the Ravens improve to 7-15 overall and 5-6 in league play while the guests drop to 14-10, 7-5 NE10 with the setback. The Hawks came into the duel in fifth place in the NE10 while the Ravens were below the postseason cutoff at the 11th spot. Following the conclusion of the match, Saint Anselm dropped one level to sixth place while the Ravens climbed two spots to ninth after the huge victory. Franklin Pierce has three games remaining in the regular season to improve their spot in the league rankings.

Senior middle blocker Hannah St. Jean (Olympia, Wash.) paced the Ravens on offense with a team-high 10 kills to go along with three total blocks. Fellow middle blocker Abigail Garnhart (Colorado Springs, Colo.) posted a strong showing with seven kills, a .308 hitting percentage and one block. Senior setter Hannah Runge (Deltona, Fla.) dished out a match-high 38 helpers while contributing some key kills down the stretch.

For the Hawks, Katy Teets recorded a game-high 11 kills on 34 attempts. She also chipped in eight digs. Holly Manchester and Catherine McCarthy notched eight kills apiece while Manchester hit .615 over the three sets and McCarthy blocked two attempted kills. Franklin Pierce outhit Saint Anselm .229-to-.160 and outblocked the Hawks seven-to-four.

Raven freshman outside hitter Ofeira Petaia (Honolulu, Hawaii) stuffed Teets at the net to push the Ravens ahead 8-6 in the first set. Franklin Pierce upped their edge by one, 10-7 as Amanda Williams' attempted kill bounced off the rod and out of play. Saint Anselm went on a mini scoring run to pull within one, 13-12, but Varricchio temporally stopped the run with a kill. Franklin Pierce was ahead 16-14 and the Hawks went on another binge. They tallied five straight points as a Madison Sollows ace moved the guests in the driver's seat at 19-16. Trailing 21-17, FPU used a 5-0 run of their own to pull ahead by one, 22-21 as Petaia rocked a service just inside the line on the right side of the court. However, on the next serve, Petaia lofted the ball into the net to tie the set and give the Hawks the ball back. Franklin Pierce ended the set by tallying the final three points as St. Jean, Runge combined on a block, and the senior middle capped off the 25th point by bashing the ball into the center of the court as FPU took a 1-0 lead.

In the second set, the Hawks jumped out ahead 5-1 and the Ravens quickly matched their counterparts point for point over the opening possessions. The Ravens did not take a lead until the middle of the set as McCarthy rolled to the left and knocked the ball off the pole to move FPU ahead 15-14. The hosts kept on adding points to their total and Brittney Carias (Burlingame, Calif.) threw down a ball into the middle of the Hawks defense to push the FPU lead to 20-17. Only holding a one-point advantage, FPU scored three in a row to increase their edge to 23-19. The Hawks would once again come within one point, but the Ravens took the important second set 25-23.

Franklin Pierce began the third set strong notching a 6-1 run as Runge played a crucial role with two kills from fake sets. Garnhart grew the Ravens lead to 8-3 as she rolled right and pulverized the rock into the open middle part of the court. The Hawks made it a two-possession set at 11-9 as Jewel Hays and Katy Teets connected on a kill. On the next serve, Jordan Schamp hit the ball right into the net to send momentum back to the Ravens. Pierce held a four-point lead until the Hawks tallied three consecutive points to come within one. Another Hawk service error gave the Ravens service back and they capitalized by outscoring their opponents 3-1 over the next few serves to lead 22-18. The closest the Hawks would come was three points as the guests were undone by another service error to clinch the match for the Crimson and Grey.

The Ravens conclude their road slate on Saturday as they travel to Southern Connecticut State for a noon conference showdown.

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).