Junior Karissa Hookstadt set a new career high with 60 assists in Tuesday's conference match against Merrimack.

Franklin Pierce topped by Merrimack in five games
Buchholz sets new career high with 14 blocks; Hookstadt posts career-best 60 assists

NORTH ANDOVER, N.H. (October 9, 2007) – Franklin Pierce University received career-high efforts from junior co-captains Nicole Buchholz (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) and Karissa Hookstadt (Camarillo, Calif./Camarillo), but the Ravens dropped a tough 3-2 (30-23, 27-30, 26-30, 30-28, 15-12) match to Merrimack College in a key Northeast-10 Conference women’s volleyball match on Tuesday evening at Volpe Gymnasium.

Buchholz led Franklin Pierce with 16 kills and a career-high 14 blocks, while Hookstadt set a new career best with 60 assists to go along with 14 digs, five blocks and four kills. The Ravens also received double-double efforts from sophomore Katie Ristow (Miami, Fla./Miami Killian Senior HS), who recorded 14 kills and 13 digs, and freshman Diana Rutt (Dayton, Nev./Dayton), who had 13 digs and 10 kills.

Sophomore Megan Feldmeth (South Pasadena, Calif./South Pasadena) led the Ravens with a .414 hitting percentage after posting 13 kills and only one error, while junior Emily Schultz (Salem, Wis./Westosha Central) tied a career high with 24 digs to lead the team.

Junior Nicole Buchholz posted a career-high 14 blocks and added 16 kills in the Ravens' 3-2 loss to Merrimack on Tuesday night.

Merrimack’s Molly Cindric (Westlake Village, Calif./Oaks Christian) led the home team with an impressive 30 kills on 73 attacks, followed by Jordan Giboney (West Linn, Ore./Wilsonville) with 11 kills and 12 digs and Ale Kuncaitis (Canton, Mass./Canton) with 10 kills and 20 digs.

After Merrimack took the first game by a 30-23 score, the Ravens took the next two games thanks to a pair of late runs.  In both games two and three, Franklin Pierce reached the 27-point plateau and then took the last three points to take a 2-1 lead through three games. The visitors could not pull out the elusive third point, however, dropping a very close fourth game and narrowly falling in the decisive fifth game.

Franklin Pierce (13-12, 7-3 NE-10), which falls to fourth place in the Northeast-10 with the loss, will look to rebound on Saturday afternoon, when the Ravens take on Southern Connecticut State in New Haven, Conn., beginning at noon. Merrimack (9-9, 6-2 NE-10) travels to Southern New Hampshire on Saturday at 11 a.m. to take on the Penmen.

Merrimack College def. Franklin Pierce 30-23, 27-30, 26-30, 30-28, 15-12

Franklin Pierce (13-12, 7-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Nicole Buchholz 16-0-14; Katie Ristow 14-2-1; Michelle Koike 14-1-0; Megan Feldmeth 13-1-8; Diana Rutt 10-0-1; Karissa Hookstadt 4-0-5; Emily Schultz 2-0-0; Totals 73-4-18.0. (Assists) - Karissa Hookstadt 60. (Dig leaders) - Emily Schultz 24; Chelsie Kohout 18; Karissa Hookstadt 14; Katie Ristow 13; Diana Rutt 13; Megan Feldmeth 9

Merrimack College (9-9, 6-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Molly Cindric 30-1-5; Jordan Giboney 11-0-3; Ale Kuncaitis 10-0-0; Kristin Applegate 9-0-4; Elyse Lorenz 4-2-2; Alison Martin 4-1-4; Lisa Barr 2-0-0; Rose Hodgson 0-0-2; Heidi Wroblicky 0-1-0; Totals 70-5-11.0. (Assists) - Elyse Lorenz 57. (Dig leaders) - Heidi Wroblicky 35; Ale Kuncaitis 20; Molly Cindric 13; Alyssa Pickert 12; Jordan Giboney 12

MATCH STATISTICS