Jackson adds seven kills

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RINDGE, N.H. (September 15, 2012) – Freshman middle Lina Kleinschmidt (Santa Barbara, Calif.) hit a robust .545 and finished with match highs of both 13 kills and five blocks (one solo) on Saturday afternoon to lead the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team to a 3-0 win at home over Post in non-conference play at the Fieldhouse. Junior middle Katie Jackson (Centennial, Colo.) added seven kills and hit .353 for the Ravens in the victory.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 5-5 (0-0 Northeast-10), while Post falls to 2-6 (1-0 Central Atlantic). The Ravens swept the match with set scores of 25-21, 25-23 and 25-15.

Already up two sets to none, the Ravens came out a little sluggish in the third set and trailed 5-1 out of the gate. A service error by Post made it 5-2 and gave the ball to Franklin Pierce as Kleinschmidt's turn came up in the service rotation. She ripped off five straight points, including a pair of aces and two tandem blocks by Jackson and sophomore outside hitter Catie Swiderski (Rocky Point, N.Y.), to push the Ravens out front, 7-5. Later, after the set was tied at 10-10, Franklin Pierce finished off the match with a 15-5 run to post the 25-15 set win.

Kleinschmidt and Jackson clearly carried the Franklin Pierce offense on the afternoon, as despite each hitting over .350, the team finished the match with a .229 attack percentage. Behind the duo's 20 combined kills, junior outside hitter Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.) added six kills and Swiderski chipped in five more. Junior setter Stephanie Svorinic (Scottsdale, Ariz.) ran the offense through the first two sets, dishing out 23 assists, while freshman Kellee Cranston (Reno, Nev.) added 10 more in the third set. Three Ravens served up at least two aces each, led by three from Ray.

Defensively, Ray and junior libero Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) contributed 13 digs each. At the net, after Kleinschmidt and her five blocks, junior right side Ashley Bruce (Hampton Falls, N.H.) picked up three block assists, while Jackson and Swiderski added two each.

For Post, senior middle Monique Chance led the offense with 11 kills and hit .529 over 17 swings, though the rest of her team hit just .048 over 84 attempts on the afternoon. Senior outside hitter Kelly Hayes added eight kills and junior outside hitter Emily Wilman put away seven, but both would hit under .040 while taking over 25 swings each. The Eagles ran the offense through sophomore setter Julia Slyaktina, who dished out a match-best 27 assists.

On the other side of the net, junior libero Monica Aristizabal led all players with 15 digs and Hayes finished in double digits as well, with 11. Up front, four Post players had one block assist each.

The Ravens return to the court on Friday, Sept. 21, when they travel to Pace for tournament play over the weekend. Franklin Pierce will face Caldwell and Texas A&M International on Friday in Pleasantville, N.Y., before squaring off with St. Mary's (Texas) and Nova Southeastern on Saturday.

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).