Volleyball Drops Conference Match up at Franklin Pierce, 3-1
Rindge, N.H. – The Merrimack volleyball team lost a tightly contested matchup at Franklin-Pierce on Tuesday night by the score of 3-1. The loss drops Merrimack to 3-15 (0-6 NE-10).
Game scores against Franklin Pierce: 22-25, 32-30, 22-25, 20-25.
Set one was a very even match as there were multiple lead changes throughout but the Ravens pulled out the 25-22 victory over the young Warriors. Sophomore Jackie Jones (Amherst, NH) led the way for Merrimack in set one as she recorded three kills.
Set two was a back and forth event as it was pushed to extra points by both teams. The Warriors took the set by the score of 32-30 as they out hit the Ravens .308 to .246 in the set.
Brianna Trabucco (Canton, MA) dominated set two with a team-high 14 assists.
Jenna Reilly (Northport, N.Y.) ended the set with a team-high six kills as she was hitting at a .462 clip in the set.
The third set looked promising for the Warriors as they were up early on but sloppy play late led to the Merrimack loss, 25-22. Both teams were challenged offensively in the third set but the Ravens were able to overcome the difficulty to pick up the set. Both teams hit at a .100 clip for the set.
The final set of the night was handled by Franklin Pierce throughout as they finished off the Warriors with a 25-20 victory. Katie Jackson recorded a team-high four kills and Stephanie Svorinic handed out 11 assists for the Ravens to secure the win.
Merrimack was led on the night by Reilly who recorded 14 kills and eight total blocks. Freshman Stephanie Sheehan (Smithtown, N.Y.) had a solid match as she hammered in eight kills and had 14 digs. Trabucco contributed with 31 assists and 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season for the Warriors.
The Ravens were propelled by to victory by Catie Swiderski who had a match-high 19 kills for the match to go along with eight digs. Natasha Ray had a double-double as she had 13 kills and a match-high 21 digs.
"We put in a great effort tonight but were unable to come through when it counted," said head coach TJ Hajjar. "The girls gave 100 percent out there tonight but we were outlasted by a good team."
Merrimack (3-15, 0-6 NE-10) will hit the road once again on Friday night as they travel to Pace for a 7 pm. Showdown with the Setters.
