Katherine Delanty recorded 11 kills for the Skyhawks

Marykay Nasby leads Skyhawk Attack with 12 kills

EASTON, Mass. (October 15, 2015) – Stonehill College rallied from a 2-1 deficit to force a fifth set, but Franklin Pierce University claimed the deciding frame to secure a 3-2 (25-20, 18-25, 25-11, 23-25, 15-5) victory tonight in Northeast-10 Conference volleyball action at Merkert Gymnasium.

Sophomore outside hitter Marykay Nasby (Belle Plaine, Minnesota/Belle Plaine) led Stonehill's offense with 12 kills. Classmate Katherine DeLanty (Smithtown, New York/Smithtown West) tallied 11 on a team leading .296 hitting percentage, while senior outside hitter Kelsey Weymouth (North Attleboro, Massachusetts/North Attleboro)  had 9 putaways and a match-high 25 digs.

Junior setter Taylor Stevens (Foster, Rhode Island/Ponaganset) facilitated the Skyhawk offense with 44 assists, while also adding 14 digs, three kills, and one ace. Defensively, sophomore libero Claire Manuszak (Indianapolis, Indiana/Bishop Chatard) posted 21 digs and handed out four assists.

For Franklin Pierce, the duo of Katie Leidhold (Acushnet, Massachusetts/Fairhaven) and Aiden Garcia (Eagle Pass, Texas / Eagle Pass) combined for 33 of the Ravens 48 kills. Liedhold registered a match-high in the category with 17, while Garcia hammered home 16 kills. Liedhold also recorded a double-double tallying 20 digs in addition to two aces.

Franklin Pierce took set one, 25-20, before Stonehill rallied back and claimed set two, 25-18. The Ravens controlled set three, racing out to a 15-4 and never looking back, taking the set, 25-11.

Stonehill bounced back in a must win set four, 25-23, in the most tightly contested game of the match (three lead chances, five ties). DeLanty turned in a set-high five kills, while Weymouth and Nasby had three putaways each and Stevens dished out a game-high 15 assists.

After forcing the score to 4-4 in the fifth and final set, Franklin Pierce rallied off five consecutive points to take a 9-4 lead. A Skyhawk kill by Ashley Hitchcock (Warrenville, Illinois/Benet Academy) brought the set to 9-5, but the score never got any closer as the Ravens closed out the set and match, 15-5.

Stonehill (7-11, 2-6 NE-10) is back in action Saturday when they travel to the New York Institute of Technology for a tri-match with NYIT and Mercy College at 1 and 3 p.m. Franklin Pierce (10-6, 4-1 NE-10) returns home on Tuesday, October 20^th, to take on Merrimack College at 7 p.m.

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