Ravens serve up 10 aces

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (October 26, 2012) – Sophomore outside hitter Catie Swiderski (Rocky Point, N.Y.) led all players with 12 kills on Friday night to lead the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team to a 3-0 road win over Le Moyne in Northeast-10 Conference play at Ted Grant Court. Freshman middle Lina Kleinschmidt (Santa Barbara, Calif.) served up a match-best six aces.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 14-12 (7-2 Northeast-10), while Le Moyne falls to 12-10 (3-7 Northeast-10). The Ravens swept through the match with set scores of 25-23, 25-15 and 25-21.

Already up one set to none, the Ravens won seven of the first 10 points in the second set, behind a pair of kills by Swiderski and an ace and a kill from Kleinschmidt, to prompt a Le Moyne timeout. Franklin Pierce took three of the next four points out of the timeout as well and never looked back.

Swiderski was the only Raven in double digits offensively, though junior middle Katie Jackson (Centennial, Colo.) and junior outside hitter Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.) added nine kills each, with the former hitting a team-best .273 with three errors over 22 attempts. Franklin Pierce ran the offense through junior setter Stephanie Svorinic (Scottsdale, Ariz.), who dished out a match-best 32 assists. The Ravens served up 10 aces as a team, compared to just two for Le Moyne.

Defensively, Ray narrowly missed double figures again, as she tied junior libero Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) for the team lead with nine digs. At the net, Kleinschmidt led all players with three blocks (one solo).

For Le Moyne, senior middle Morgan McDermott led the way with 11 kills and was the match's most efficient hitter (minimum 10 attempts), as she hit .625 with just one error over 16 attempts. Junior outside hitter Madison Snow added six digs as the only other Dolphin with more than five kills. Le Moyne's offense went through sophomore setter Megan Maisonet, who finished with 29 assists.

Defensively, senior outside hitters Bethany Fabian (14 digs) and Kelsey Polanski (11) were the only two players in the match to reach double digits in digs. Fabian added a pair of block assists up front.

The Ravens return to the court on Saturday, Oct. 27, when they travel to Saint Rose for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Albany, N.Y. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Friday, Nov. 2 against Adelphi at 7 p.m.

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' brand new online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).