RINDGE, N.H. (August 24, 2018) – The Franklin Pierce University volleyball program hosted the inaugural Raven First Serve Invitational welcoming seven teams to The Fieldhouse for a two-day tournament starting Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, FPU dropped both showdowns suffering 3-0 losses to Long Island University – Post (18-25, 19-25, 20-12) and the University of Tampa (16-25, 11-25, 22-25).

Raven Freshman outside hitter Cierra Dolan (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) led all FPU athletes with 13 total kills across the two matches. Classmate Breanna Mineweaser (Honey Brook, Pa.) produced 10 kills and a team-best four total blocks. Setter Mary Pease (East Haddam, Conn.) handed out 31 assists and libero Marisa Lamb (Phoenix, Ariz.) was active on the defensive end with 20 digs.

Game One: Pioneers 3, Ravens 0 (18-25, 19-25, 20-25)

Cierra Dolan paced the Ravens offense with seven kills and three digs on the defensive side. Senior Brittney Carias (Burlingame, Calif.) chipped in six kills, four digs, and one helper. Abigail Garnhart (Colorado Springs, Colo.) produced five kills, two aces, and three digs while junior Marisa Lamb tallied a game-best 13 digs.

For the designated away team, sophomore outside hitter Lauren Kloos led all players with 10 kills. Samantha Colombo and Sara Mangan chipped in six kills apiece for the Pioneers.

Abigail Garnhart moved the Ravens ahead 4-3 the early stages of the first set as she successfully popped a serve just inside the left boundary line. With the birds ahead 5-4, the Pioneers pushed in front on the strength of a 6-0 scoring binge with junior outside hitter Samantha Colombo serving. Colombo whacked two aces of her own as LIU led 10-5 and forced FPU into an early timeout. Following the timeout, Dolan responded by bashing the ball off a Pease feed to stop the run at 10-6.

The first set unexpectedly halted at 14-8 when the fire alarm blared through the Fieldhouse. Teams evacuated and matches were delayed for about an hour and a half.

When play resumed, Allie Ahearne smoked an ace to up the Pioneers edge to 17-9 before FPU rattled off four straight markers to cut the deficit to 17-13. LIU advanced the lead to seven until four consecutive points by the Ravens, three via miscue and one Addison Wright (Carmel, Ind.) ace made it a three-possession game. The Pioneers totaled the final four points to win 25-18.

LIU held a 6-1 second set lead. Raven errors increased their deficit to 10-3. With Abby Eckhardt at the service line, LIU pulled away 15-4 via a Lea Brady kill. FPU brought the Post advantage to five, 22-17 when Abigail Garnhart successfully killed an attack attempt set up by Pease. LIU eventually hung on to the set 25-19.

Both squads swapped points back and forth as back-to-back Lauren Kloos attack errors gave FPU an 11-9 edge. Six consecutive markers by the guests pushed them ahead 14-11. A Corinne McCarthy (Kalamazoo, Mich.) kill and a bad set off the arms of Eckhardt tied the third set once again at 17-17. FPU came within one at 21-20, but the Pioneers wrapped up the match with four in a row.

Game Two: Spartans 3, Ravens 0 (16-25, 11-25, 22-25)

In game two against Tampa, Abigail Garnhart hit .333 for the home team with one dime and one dig. Breanna Mineweaser hit .375 producing four kills and two blocks. Cierra Dolan was the Ravens offense in the second contest leading the team with six kills and a game-best three blocks.

Two players for Tampa recorded double-digit kills, outside hitter Sarah Luoma and outsider hitter Kate McKiel each had 11 kills apiece.

A Raven service error and two aces from Nicole Dominguez pushed Tampa in the lead 3-0. Dolan curled to the left side, met Nylah Demps at the net and blocked her attack attempt to cut the Raven deficit to 5-4. The Spartans outscored the Ravens 10-5 over the next couple of serves to lead 15-9. Junior middle blocker Taylor Fosler increased the score to 19-12 keeping it an eight-point lead until she ended the set with a kill.

The second game was all Tampa as they held the Ravens to only nine points at 23-9. A Mineweaser and Abigail Garnhart kill brought the Ravens score to 24-11 until a service error gave the Spartans a commanding 2-0 set advantage.

Mary Pease in the third set scored the first point with via a service ace. Trailing 5-3, freshman Lauren Herrera (Simi Valley, Calif.) and Mineweaser threw down ferocious blocks through the middle of the Tampa defense to bring the score to a deadlock at 5-5. The game was tied 9-9 and with Jocelyn Moddy (Biddeford, Maine) serving, she totaled two consecutive aces and Mineweaser tallied another block to increase the Raven lead to 12-9.

A 7-2 Tampa run established a three-point edge for the away squad at 17-14. Four in a row by FPU moved them ahead 18-17 via kills by Abigail Garnhart and Moody. The third blocking error of the set for Tampa kept the Ravens in the driver's seat at 22-21, but Tampa closed the game as Luoma notched three kills.

The Ravens head back to the hardwood tomorrow for the first game on court one at 10:00 a.m. versus Grand Valley State.

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). You can also follow the volleyball program on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FPURavensVB) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fpuravensvb/).