MANCHESTER N.H. (September 25, 2018) – The Franklin Pierce University volleyball program headed to interstate and Northeast-10 Conference opponent Southern New Hampshire University Tuesday evening and were upended 3-0 (16-25, 14-25, 22-25) at the Spirou Field House. With the win, the Penmen improve to 4-7, 2-1 NE10 while the Ravens suffered their fourth league setback.

Irem Bat who chalked up a match-high 18 kills and a.382 hitting percentage carried the Penmen to victory. No other SNHU player recorded double-digit kills as Baylee Lippincott hit .500 and notched nine kills.

For the Ravens, freshman Cierra Dolan (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) paced Pierce with nine kills and a .250 hitting percentage. Sarah Roach (Provo, Utah) chipped in eight kills and five digs. Junior libero Marisa Lamb (Phoenix, Ariz.) carried the Ravens on the defensive end with 14 digs.

The Ravens raced out to a 6-3 advantage in the early stages of the first set following a Brittney Carias (Burlingame, Calif.) kill and a Bat attack error. A 4-1 Penmen spurt tied the set at 7-7 as Bat completed a set by Jessica Dillon. The squads swapped points back and forth through the next few possessions until four consecutive markers by the hosts pushed the Penmen ahead 15-11. A SNHU attack error brought the Raven deficit to 16-13, but SNHU outscored the Ravens 9-3 to win the opening set.

An Abigail Garnhart (Colorado Springs, Colo.) solo block of Ramona Fontaine deadlocked the second set at 4-4. Six in a row by SNHU including three Bat kills moved the score to 10-4 in favor of the home team. Franklin Pierce took a timeout and rallied with three kills of their own all set up by Mary Pease (East Haddam, Conn.) Pease connected with Roach for the first kill and Breanna Mineweaser (Honey Brook, Pa.) for two including a roll towards the right pin, which brought the second set deficit to 10-7. The Penmen eventually built their lead to 10, 23-13 and won the set 25-14.

Franklin Pierce was ahead early in set number three, 4-3 via a Dolan kill. A 6-0 binge by SNHU capped off by an Amanda Costales kill put them back ahead 9-4. The Ravens climbed out of a five-point hole to bring the score within three twice as Roach rocked an ace and Fontaine committed a setting miscue. A double block by Lippincott and Jaclyn Maguire put the Penmen two points away from a straight sweep. The Ravens rallied to come within one point, 23-22 as a Roach kill and a bad set off the hands of Bat gave the Ravens extra life. SNHU extinguished any hopes of a fourth set when they tallied the game-clinching points.

The Ravens next battle comes next Tuesday, October 2nd when they welcome American International College to the Fieldhouse for a 7:00 p.m. showdown.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://fpuravens.com). 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 apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://fpuravens.com/store). You can also follow the volleyball program on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FPURavensVB) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fpuravensvb/).