Freshman piled up 19 kills in day's first match
Swiderski rang up 29 kills over two matches in Saturday's tri-match at NYIT.
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Box Score vs. District of Columbia
Box Score vs. NYIT
OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (September 17, 2011) – Freshman outside hitter Catie Swiderski (Rocky Point, N.Y.) hammered a career-best 19 kills while collecting nine digs to lead the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over District of Columbia in the first of two matches on Saturday, hosted by New York Institute of Technology at Recreation Hall. Later in the day, the Ravens fell in a 3-1 decision to the host Bears.
With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 5-5 (0-0 Northeast-10). Against University of D.C., the Ravens took the first two sets, 25-17 and 25-16, respectively. The Firebirds responded in the third set, 27-25, but the Ravens quickly answered, 25-17, to take the match. Against NYIT, Franklin Pierce dropped the first two sets, 25-15 and 25-23. Although the Ravens interrupted the streak with a 25-21 win in the third set, the match was decided in the fourth with the Bears 25-15 victory.
In the first match of the day, Swiderski's offensive double-digit scoring for the Ravens received help from sophomore middle Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 26 digs. The pair's production came off the set work of sophomore Stephanie Svorinic (Scottsdale, Ariz.), who dished out a match-best 45 assists.
Defensively, it was sophomore libero Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) supporting Ray with 23 digs of her own. At the net, sophomore middle Katie Jackson (Centennial, Colo.) was busy collecting six blocks (three solo).
For District of Columbia, junior outside hitter Vanessa Garley and junior libero Grace Perilli each added 21 digs in the match. Garley would be one of two Firebirds to earn herself a double-double for her work on the other side of the net with 14 kills on top of three blocks. Joining her was senior middle Grace DeMichelis who paired 12 digs with 27 assists to collect a double-double as well. Senior middle Mirella Nunes chipped in 10 digs of her own to add to the Firebirds' defensive battle.
In the second match, the Ravens were held to a .103 attack percentage and recorded only 29 kills in the four sets played. For the second time of the day it was Swiderski who led the Ravens offense, producing 10 kills, while Svorinic took care of the setup with 24 assists.
Miller and Ray split the bulk of defensive work tallying 21 and 20 digs, respectively. Sophomore middle Ashley Bruce (Hampton Falls, N.H.) and freshman middle Margaret Darcy (Foster, R.I.) each tallied two of the team's four blocks.
The Bears were led by a pair of double-doubles from their two outside hitters in sophomore Shelby Cable, who recorded 21 kills and 23 digs, and junior Tugce Sirdas, who added 18 kills and 19 digs. Their offense was fueled by the set of senior Damla Albayrak, who fired a match-best 55 assists.
The Ravens return to the court on Tuesday, Sept. 20, when they travel to Massachusetts Lowell for their first conference match of the season. Match time is set for 7 p.m. at Costello Gym in Lowell, Mass. Franklin Pierce's first home match is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 24 against New Haven at 1 p.m. at the Fieldhouse in Rindge.
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).
