Junior co-captain Nicole Buchholz lead the Raven attack with 16 kills and .448 hitting in Tuesday's 3-0 win over American International.

Franklin Pierce spikes American International, 3-0
Buchholz leads all players with 16 kills and a .448 hitting percentage

RINDGE, N.H. (October 30, 2007) – Junior co-captain Nicole Buchholz (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) led all players with 16 kills as Franklin Pierce University, ranked eighth in the latest NCAA Div. II Northeast Regional poll, rolled past American International College by a score of 3-0 (30-18, 30-23, 30-15) in a Northeast-10 Conference women’s volleyball match on the first “Dig for the Cure” night Tuesday at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse. The match marked the conclusion of the regular season for the Ravens.

The Ravens set a new season high for a three-game match by piling up 71 digs, led by 17 from freshman Chelsie Kohout (Harrison Township, Mich./L’Anse Creuse). As a result, the team will donate over $1,000 to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation to benefit breast cancer research.

Buchholz led a relentless Raven attack with 16 kills and a .448 hitting percentage, her highest percentage of the season, and also added seven blocks, six digs and a pair of service aces. Sophomore Megan Feldmeth (South Pasadena, Calif./South Pasadena) hit over .400 on the night as well, posting nine kills on .412 hitting. The Ravens also received nine kills from sophomore Caitlynn Parnell (Medina, Texas/Medina) and a season-high eight from junior Emily Schultz (Salem, Wis./Westosha Central).

Kohout paced four Ravens with double-figure digs, followed by Schultz’s 15 digs, 11 from Parnell and 10 from junior co-captain Karissa Hookstadt (Camarillo, Calif./Camarillo). Hookstadt also led all players with 34 assists while adding four blocks and three kills.

Sophomore Megan Feldmeth recorded nine kills and a .412 hitting percentage in Tuesday's win.

After allowing the Yellow Jackets to hang around early in the opening game, the Ravens scored 18 of the last 25 points to take the game handily, 30-18. The home team used the same tactic in the second game, using a 7-0 run midway through the game to turn a 7-7 score into a 14-7 advantage, and the Ravens held on for the 30-23 win and a 2-0 lead.

In the final game of the match, Franklin Pierce jumped out to early leads of 6-0 and 17-7 in cruising to the 30-15 win and the match victory.

With the win, Franklin Pierce (18-15, 10-4 NE-10) completes its 2007 regular season with the best conference mark in school history, narrowly surpassing the 9-5 mark that the team put up in each of the last two seasons. The Ravens also increased their program-best home record to 11-2 on the year.

Franklin Pierce earned at least the fourth seed in next week’s Northeast-10 Tournament with the victory, but the Ravens could move into third if Merrimack College loses its final two matches of the regular season after falling tonight to Southern New Hampshire University. The final seedings for the tournament, held on Nov. 9-10 at Bentley College, will be decided after the last weekend of conference action on Nov. 2-4.

Franklin Pierce def. American Int'l 30-18, 30-23, 30-15

American Int'l (5-12, 3-10 NE-10) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Katie Wilkinson 4-0-0; Alicia Cotton 4-0-0; Alicia Smith 3-1-3; Candace Joseph 2-1-0; Manda Bronson 2-1-1; Charisse Trotman 2-0-0; Krystle Neves 1-0-0; Kambryn Williams 0-0-1; Keziah Kashouh 0-0-2; Totals 18-3-4.0. (Assists) - Ozge Ozkan 10. (Dig leaders) - Kambryn Williams 9; Christy Castillo 7

Franklin Pierce (18-15, 10-4 NE-10) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Nicole Buchholz 16-2-7; Megan Feldmeth 9-0-1; Caitlynn Parnell 9-0-2; Emily Schultz 8-0-1; Katie Ristow 5-1-2; Karissa Hookstadt 3-0-4; Chelsie Kohout 1-0-0; Totals 51-3-10.0. (Assists) - Karissa Hookstadt 34. (Dig leaders) - Chelsie Kohout 17; Emily Schultz 15; Caitlynn Parnell 11; Karissa Hookstadt 10; Katie Ristow 8

MATCH STATISTICS