Defense holds block party at net
Miller served up a career-high eight aces at Bentley on Saturday night.
|
WALTHAM, Mass. (October 13, 2012) – Junior outside hitter Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and sophomore outside hitter Catie Swiderski (Rocky Point, N.Y.) tied for the match lead with 11 kills each on Saturday night, while the former added 13 digs and the latter hit .276 as the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team posted a 3-1 road win over Bentley in Northeast-10 Conference play at Auerbach Arena on the campus of Brandeis University. Franklin Pierce served up 20 aces in the match, the most since the team tallied 23 in a season-opening win over Bowie State on Sept. 4, 2010.
With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 10-11 (4-1 Northeast-10), while Bentley falls to 7-14 (2-4 Northeast-10). The Ravens opened the match by rolling to 25-11 and 25-15 wins in the first two sets, before Bentley closed the gap to 2-1 with a 25-22 victory in the third set. Franklin Pierce put the hammer down in the fourth, with a 25-14 win to finish off the match. The match was moved to Brandeis due to renovations at Bentley's on-campus home, Dana Center.
Leading 2-1, but having just given up the third set, Franklin Pierce wasted no time asserting itself in the fourth. Bentley freshman setter Kyana Miller opened the set with a service error and then Ray ran off the next five points on her serve for the Ravens. Ray did most of the work on the run herself, as she served up three aces and put away a kill. After the 6-0 start to the set, Bentley would never cut the deficit to fewer than two points the rest of the way.
Ray and Swiderski were the only two Ravens in double digits offensively, though freshman middle Lina Kleinschmidt (Santa Barbara, Calif.) was the most efficient attacker for Franklin Pierce, as she hit .500 over 14 attempts to finish with eight kills against just one error. Junior setter Stephanie Svorinic (Scottsdale, Ariz.) steered the offense with a match-high 31 assists.
The story of the night for the Ravens came from behind the service line, however. Junior libero Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) fired a match-best eight aces, a new career high and one more than Bentley's entire squad. Ray added six aces and freshman defensive specialist Sarah MacHugh (Red Hook, N.Y.) contributed four more.
Defensively, Lauren Miller (16 digs) and Ray (13) both reached double digits, with the latter completing her double-double. At the net, the Ravens frontline sent back eight blocks, led by three block assists each from Svorinic, Kleinschmidt, Ray and junior middle Katie Jackson (Centennial, Colo.).
For Bentley, both sophomore outside hitter Tatiana Froehlich and sophomore middle Emily Garcia finished with eight kills. Sophomore middle Savannah Dominguez was the most efficient Falcon, as she hit .353 with seven kills and one error over 17 swings. Bentley ran the offense through Kyana Miller, who contributed 28 assists.
On the other side of the net, sophomore libero Lauren Colasanti recorded a match-best 21 assists, while sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Buckner added 16 more. The Falcons recorded just one block on the evening, a tandem effort from Garcia and Buckner.
The Ravens return to the court on Tuesday, Oct. 16, when they travel to Merrimack for a Northeast-10 Conference match. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Volpe Center in North Andover, Mass.
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).
