ORANGEBURG, N.Y. (9/10/22) – Franklin Pierce Volleyball had one final stop to make on their season opening road trip, where they faced off against Dominican (N.Y.) in a closely contested 3-1 loss on Saturday afternoon.

Both teams move to a 3-5 overall record following the event.  

The Ravens opened the match with an authoritative 25-12 victory in the first set, quickly getting to work with a 7-2 lead with the help of senior Mariah Robles (West Covina, Calif.), who chalked up three kills in the early goings. Through the middle portion of play, senior outside hitter Tessa Brandt (Foster, R.I.) and freshman Martina Spackova (Bratislava, Slovakia) helped maintain the lead with a pair of kills each, with Brandt eventually earning her third double-double performance of the season. Throughout the entirety of the opening frame, Pierce capitalized on 10 total errors by the Chargers, eventually sealing the win the same way they had opened it with four straight points.

The second and third sets proved to be a close battle between the two squads, with Dominican emerging victorious in each by a 27-25 tiebreaker score. In both sets, the Chargers mounted 5-0 scoring runs to establish their largest leads of the afternoon, forcing a comeback effort form the Pierce side. After falling behind 20-17 in late staged of the third, Tessa Brandt and freshman Annaka Lindstrom (Dudley, Mass.) revived the Raven hopes of tying the match with a 5-0 run of their own, before surrendering four unanswered point to Dominican.  

Dominican played the spoiler game in the fourth set, outlasting a late surge by Pierce to attempt prolonging the competition. With the 24-19 lead and the match point available, the Ravens struck gold off of a single kill by Martina Spackova, along with a trio of errors from the Dominican side to make for an interesting finish. However, the Chargers were able to recover and secure the single point needed for victory, outlasting the Ravens 25-23 for the 3-1 triumph.

From the leaderboards, Tessa Brandt set a new career single-match high in kills with 20 total, which is also the season best for the Ravens thus far. Additionally, junior Morgan Schmutzler (Lockport, Ill.) set the standard with a new single-match season high 32 digs, her second highest performance of her career while averaging 8 per set.

Volleyball will kick off a three match homestand on Saturday, September 17^th where they will clash with incoming University of Bridgeport in the home