Schulz contributes 10 kills, 16 digs

RINDGE, N.H. (October 22, 2013) – In the third set on Tuesday night at the Fieldhouse, senior libero Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) served up the 158th ace of her career, setting a program record for the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team. Two sets later, Franklin Pierce finished off a 3-2, Northeast-10 Conference win over Merrimack in its first home match in nearly three weeks. Junior outside hitter Stephanie Sheehan had 13 kills and 20 digs in the loss for Merrimack.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 7-6 (2-4 Northeast-10), while Merrimack falls to 8-11 (3-3 Northeast-10). After Merrimack took the first set, 25-18, the Ravens bounced back with a 25-19 win in the second set and a 25-22 win in the third set. Merrimack prolonged the evening with a 25-12 win in the fourth set before Franklin Pierce finished things off in the fifth, 15-12.

After dropping the first set, the Ravens had their most efficient set of the night, hitting .243 with 14 kills to take the second set. Junior outside hitter Catie Swiderski (Rocky Point, N.Y.) led the second-set surge by hitting .444 with five kills over nine attempts, while sophomore outside hitter Sydni Schulz (Cypress, Texas) added two kills and eight digs. After Franklin Pierce took the third set as well, Merrimack found its offense for the only time all evening, hammering out 14 kills against just three errors to hit .379 while dominating the fourth set. Sheehan and freshman outside hitter Jocelyn McLain had five kills each in the set.

Schulz and Swiderski took over in the fifth to make sure Franklin Pierce picked up the win on Tuesday night. Swiderski put away four of her seven shots and made just one error while hitting .429 in the decisive stanza, while Schulz added a pair of kills. More importantly perhaps, Schulz piled up five digs to lead an 11-dig, two-block effort by the Raven defense in the final set.

Earlier in the night, Miller's 158th career ace came on Franklin Pierce's fourth point of the third set. The ace broke a tie at the top of the program's record book and gave Miller sole possession of the record previously held by Mandy Johnson. Only one other active Raven has reached 100 career aces, and that also happened on Tuesday as senior outside hitter Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had two aces to reach the century mark.

In all, Franklin Pierce had three players reach double digits in kills in the match: Swiderski and Ray had 12 each, while Schulz had 10 against just four errors to hit .200 over 30 attempts, her second-highest total of the season. Freshman middle Aiden Garcia (Eagle Pass, Texas) added seven kills and made just one error over 16 attempts to hit a team-best .375. After freshman setter Kelsey Hausman (Sandy, Utah) had seven assists in the first set, the Ravens ran the offense through senior Stephanie Svorinic (Scottsdale, Ariz.), who finished with 33 assists. As a team, Franklin Pierce served up seven aces, but also committed 11 service errors.

Defensively, Miller led the back row with 26 digs, including five to match Schulz in the decisive fifth set. Miller was joined in double digits by Schulz (16) and Svorinic (10). As a team, the Ravens had seven blocks, with Garcia and senior right side Ashley Bruce (Hampton Falls, N.H.) contributing three block assists each.

For Merrimack, which held a .160-.102 advantage in attack percentage on the night, Sheehan led the way with 13 kills against three errors to hit .244 over 41 attempts. McLain reached double digits as well, with 13 kills and a .211 percentage over 38 swings, while junior middle Corrine Gosselin chipped in 10 kills but also made eight errors to hit .087. In a secondary role, junior middle Aliya Winker hit a match-best .417 with seven kills over 12 attempts. The Warriors worked off the set of freshman Tara Stuhr, who dished out 41 assists. Merrimack gave away points in the service game all night, as aside from being aced seven times, the Warriors committed 10 service errors and had only one ace.

Defensively, Burke led Merrimack with 22 digs, and was joined in double digits by Sheehan's aforementioned 20. The Warriors came up with eight blocks up front, with Gosselin collecting four block assists.

The Ravens return to the court on Saturday, Oct. 26, when they remain home to host Assumption in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. First serve is scheduled for 5 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). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce volleyball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).