Rutt posts career-high 17 kills as Ravens come back from 2-0 down to defeat Le Moyne; Feldmeth posts a match-high 18 kills in five-set setback to Bridgeport

Boxscore vs. Le Moyne
Boxscore vs. Bridgeport

RINDGE, N.H. (October 7, 2007) – The Franklin Pierce University women’s volleyball team participated in two thrilling five-set matches on Sunday afternoon at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse, defeating Le Moyne College before falling to the University of Bridgeport. The Ravens came back from two games down to defeat Le Moyne, 3-2 (31-33, 23-30, 30-20, 30-25, 15-8), in the day’s first match before dropping a tough 3-2 (33-31, 27-30, 30-27, 30-25, 16-14) match to Bridgeport to end the day.

In Franklin Pierce’s first match of the afternoon, the Ravens fell behind early but staged a determined comeback to take a 3-2 win and increase their Northeast-10 mark to 7-2 on the year. Freshman Diana Rutt (Dayton, Nev./Dayton) had a career game for the Ravens, as she posted season bests with 17 kills, 14 digs and two blocks. Junior co-captain Nicole Buchholz (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) also had a very solid effort, recording 14 kills, 10 blocks and four digs, while fellow junior co-captain Karissa Hookstadt (Camarillo, Calif./Camarillo) narrowly missed a triple-double by tying a season high with 52 assists and adding 14 digs and a career-best eight blocks.

Le Moyne was led by Elizabeth Cheek (Huntington Beach, Calif./Rosary), who posted a match-high 18 kills and added a team-best 21 digs. Three other Dolphins posted double-doubles, led by a 55-assist, 18-dig effort from Kaylin Brainerd (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool).

The Ravens struggled in the opening two games, hitting a combined .123 while allowing Le Moyne to hit at a .307 clip, but the home team revived its chances by recording 47 kills and a .385 hitting percentage over the final three games.

Over that span, Franklin Pierce recorded more than four consecutive points only once but strung together a multitude of small runs that eventually wore down the Dolphin attack. The home team jumped out to a quick lead and never trailed in a 30-20 third game, while the Ravens came back from an early 4-1 deficit in the fourth game to force a decisive fifth game. In that game, a five-point swing turned a tenuous 7-6 lead into a comfortable 12-6 advantage that the team would not give up.

The Ravens attempted to pull out another five-set win in their match against Bridgeport, but the team could not hang on and fell in five tense and well-played games. Sophomore Megan Feldmeth (South Pasadena, Calif./South Pasadena) paced the home team with a match-high 18 kills and a career-high 15 blocks, followed by Rutt with 13 kills and 10 digs. Sophomore Katie Ristow (Miami, Fla./Miami Killian Senior HS) also played well for the Ravens, posting 12 kills and 16 digs to match her totals against Le Moyne.

Bridgeport relied exclusively on its seven starters, with four of them recording 12 kills or more. Britney Owens (Payson, Ariz./Chandler-Gilbert C.C.) had a team-high 17 kills, while Olga Sidorova (Ekaterinburg, Russia/Dickinson State) posted 16 kills and Ivana Kovacevic-Jurasin (Belgrade, Serbia/Faculty of Economic) recorded 15.

For most of the evening, the Ravens played from behind but almost always made up the deficit. In a very tight first game, Bridgeport came out strong and took an early 11-4 lead, but Franklin Pierce consistently battled back and eventually took five of the last seven points, including a UB game point at 28-29, to earn a 33-31 win. In the third game, the Ravens eliminated a 24-19 deficit by rattling off nine consecutive points on Feldmeth’s serve and battling to a 30-27 win.

In a very tense fifth game, the Ravens battled back from an early 4-1 deficit and held match point at 14-13, but the Purple Knights took the final three points, two thanks to Franklin Pierce hitting errors, and escaped with a 15-14 game win and the match victory.

Franklin Pierce (13-11, 7-2 NE-10), which increased its conference winning streak to four matches with the win over Le Moyne, returns to Northeast-10 play on Tuesday night when the Ravens take on Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass. The Ravens will play their next eight matches away from home before returning for their regular season finale on Oct. 30.