Ravens down St. Augustine's, fall to Quincy

MILLERSVILLE, Pa. (September 1, 2012) – Sophomore outside hitter Catie Swiderski (Rocky Point, N.Y.) hammered out 11 kills without making an error on Saturday morning to hit .647 and lead the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team to a 3-1 win over St. Augustine's in non-conference play on the second day of the Marauder Clash, hosted by Millersville. The win allowed the Ravens to post a 3-0 record in pool play at the event and saw the team through to the championship on Saturday afternoon. In the final, Franklin Pierce suffered a straight-set defeat at the hands of Quincy, to finish as the tournament's runner-up.

With the split, Franklin Pierce is now 3-1 (0-0 Northeast-10) on the season. The loss dropped St. Augustine's to 0-3 (0-0 Central Intercollegiate), while Quincy improved to 5-0 (0-0 Great Lakes Valley) with the win. Against St. Augustine's, the Ravens took the match with set scores of 25-15, 25-11, 24-25, 25-13. Against Quincy, Franklin Pierce was felled, 25-22, 26-24, 25-18.

A pair of Ravens hit over .600 in the win over St. Augustine's. Swiderski was the only Franklin Pierce player in double digits, as she put down 11 kills without an error over 17 swings to hit .647. Meanwhile, junior right side Ashley Bruce (Hampton Falls, N.H.) was even more efficient, as she racked up a .667 attack percentage with eight kills, also without an error, on 12 attempts. Freshman middle Lina Kleinschmidt (Santa Barbara, Calif.) chipped in nine kills and freshman outside hitter Madison Duffy (Bethel, Conn.) added six more as both hit over .300.

Franklin Pierce saw a pair of setters share the load on offense against the Falcons. Junior Stephanie Svorinic (Scottsdale, Ariz.) led the way with 21 assists, while freshman Kellee Cranston (Reno, Nev.) handed out 16 more. Five different Ravens served up at least two aces, led by junior outside hitter Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who had three.

Defensively, junior libero Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) led the team with eight digs, while Ray added seven of her own. Kleinschmidt racked up three blocks, two solo.

Against Quincy, Ray, was the only Franklin Pierce player to tally more than five kills, as she finished with nine, but needed 33 attempts to do so, hitting .260. Duffy led the team in efficiency by hitting .307 with five kills over 13 swings. Svorinic dished out 14 assists in the match, while Cranston added seven more.

Defensively against the Hawks, Miller led the way with 15 digs, while Ray added eight of her own. At the net, Kleinschmidt racked up four blocks (one solo) and Bruce notched three block assists. Five different Ravens had at least two blocks in the match.

Stats for St. Augustine's and Quincy were unavailable at press time. Full box scores will be added as they become available.

The Ravens return to the court on Friday, Sept. 7, for two days of play at the Mountain Lion Invitational, hosted by the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Franklin Pierce will face the hosts on Friday, as well as Midwestern State, before squaring off with Fort Lewis and Wayne State (Neb.) on Saturday. Franklin Pierce's first home match is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 13 against Assumption 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).