Ravens serve up double-digit aces for fourth straight match

ALBANY, N.Y. (October 27, 2012) – Freshman outside hitter Madison Duffy (Bethel, Conn.) led the team with 11 kills and hit a match-best .500 over 18 attempts on Saturday afternoon, but the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team was defeated, 3-1, on the road by Saint Rose in Northeast-10 Conference play at Nolan Gymnasium. Freshman right side Carissa Dube collected a match-best 12 kills and hit .348 over 23 attempts to lead Saint Rose to the victory.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 14-13 (7-3 Northeast-10) and sees its three-match winning streak snapped, while Saint Rose improves to 13-8 (6-4 Northeast-10). Saint Rose opened with identical wins of 25-22 in the first two sets, before Franklin Pierce got on the board with a 25-16 victory in the third set. The Golden Knights finished the match with a 25-23 win in the fourth set.

Leading 2-1 and tied at 21-21 in the fourth after a kill by Franklin Pierce freshman outside hitter Sydni Schulz (Cypress, Texas), Saint Rose made its final push of the match. The Golden Knights chalked up back-to-back points on kills by senior outside hitter Kayleigh Quinn and junior outside hitter Christina Strezenec to jump to a 23-21 lead and force a Franklin Pierce timeout. The Ravens would twice claw back within a point, but could not prolong the match, as Dube put away her 12th and final kill to give Saint Rose the 25-23 win in the fourth set and the 3-1 victory in the match.

For Franklin Pierce, Duffy was the only player in double digits offensively, though junior right side Ashley Bruce (Hampton Falls, N.H.) added eight kills and hit .217 with three errors over 23 swings. Duffy and Bruce were the only Ravens to hit over .200 on the afternoon, as the rest of the offense mustered just an .033 attack percentage over the team's remaining 91 attempts to drop the team's total percentage to .129 over 132 swings. The offense worked off the set of both junior Stephanie Svorinic (Scottsdale, Ariz.), who dished out 20 assists, and freshman Kellee Cranston (Reno, Nev.), who added 11 more. The service attack rang up double-digit aces for the fourth straight match, led by four from freshman middle Lina Kleinschmidt (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and three from junior outside hitter Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.).

Defensively, junior libero Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) paced the Ravens with 18 kills, while Schulz added 12 more and Ray contributed nine. At the net, Kleinschmidt led the team with five block assists, while Bruce and junior middle Katie Jackson (Centennial, Colo.) added four block assists each. Franklin Pierce surrendered seven aces to Saint Rose's service game, spread across receiving errors by five different players.

For Saint Rose, only Dube topped 10 kills, though junior middle Alex Gagliano (9) and Strezenec (8) were not far behind, with the former leading the team in hitting at .368 with two errors over 19 attempts. The Golden Knight offense was not much more efficient than that of Franklin Pierce, as Saint Rose hit only .153 over 144 attempts. Saint Rose used a pair of setters as well, with sophomore Ariana Wilson (24 assists) and sophomore Tori Daniels (19) sharing the load. The Golden Knights' spread their service aces around to five different players.

On the other side of the net, sophomore libero Katy Daniels led all players with 19 digs, while Tori Daniels (13, to finish her double-double) and Strezenec (10) reached double digits as well. Gagliano proved a pest at the net all afternoon, as she piled up eight blocks (two solo) to lead the Saint Rose front line to 12 total blocks.

The Ravens return to the court on Tuesday, Oct. 30, when they travel to Saint Anselm for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Stoutenburgh Gym in Manchester, N.H. 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).