Junior co-captain Nicole Buchholz, the top blocker in the Northeast-10, leads the Ravens into the 2007 Northeast-10 Tournament as the fourth seed on Friday against Pace.

Franklin Pierce readies for NE-10 Tournament on Friday
Ravens will take on fifth-seeded Pace on Friday evening in quarterfinal round

RINDGE, N.H. (November 7, 2007) – The Franklin Pierce University women’s volleyball team, ranked eighth in this week’s NCAA Div. II Northeast Regional poll, will begin its quest for the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament title with a quarterfinal match against Pace University on Friday night at the Dana Center on the campus of Bentley College.

Fourth-seeded Franklin Pierce (18-15, 10-4 NE-10) will take on fifth-seeded Pace University (12-15, 9-5 NE-10) in quarterfinal action on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The winner of that match will take on the winner of top-seeded Bryant College (27-12, 14-0 NE-10) and the eight-seed College of Saint Rose (14-12, 7-7 NE-10) in the semifinals on Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Northeast-10 Championship match will take place on Saturday evening at 7 p.m.

The Ravens are making their third consecutive appearance in the Northeast-10 Conference tournament and the team comes in as the fourth seed, the highest seeding in school history. The Ravens finished the 2007 regular season in fourth place with a conference mark of 10-4, which set a new school record for conference wins in a season, and the team also set a new school record with its 11-2 record at home.

Redshirt freshman Michelle Koike ranks eighth in the Northeast-10 with a .268 hitting percentage in her first season with the Ravens.

Junior co-captain Nicole Buchholz (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) is the team’s offensive leader as the starting middle hitter, as she leads the team with 327 total kills (2.66/game) on the season. Buchholz is also the Ravens’ top net presence, as she leads the conference in both total blocks (157) and blocks per game (1.28/game). As a team, Franklin Pierce is tied with Saint Rose and American International with a conference-high 2.56 blocks per game.

Sophomore Caitlynn Parnell (Medina, Texas/Medina) and redshirt freshman Michelle Koike (San Francisco, Calif./Gonzaga University) also help to bolster the Raven attack. Parnell leads the team with 2.93 kills per game despite missing 12 matches in the middle of the season. Koike, who has averaged 2.48 kills per game in her first season with the team, leads the Ravens and ranks eighth in the Northeast-10 with a .268 hitting percentage.

Junior co-captain Karissa Hookstadt, the school's all-time leader in career assists, ranks fifth in the Northeast-10 in assists in 2007.

Junior co-captain Karissa Hookstadt (Camarillo, Calif./Camarillo) and freshman Chelsie Kohout (Harrison Township, Mich./L’Anse Creuse) also rank in the top 10 among conference categories. Hookstadt, who is the school’s all-time leader in assists, is currently fifth in the NE-10 with 1139 assists (10.26/game), while Kohout is sixth in digs with 498 (4.53/game).

Pace University is also making its third straight appearance in the NE-10 Tournament, having been dispatched by Bentley College in the first round each of the last two seasons. The Setters have won two Northeast-10 regular season titles and three tournament championships, the last of each coming in the 2000 season, when the team won the NCAA Northeast Regional and advanced to the Elite Eight.

The Setters are led by the trio of juniors Korena Johnson (Friendswood, Texas/Clear Brook) and Danielle Furka (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and freshman Sienna Johnson (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Polytechnic). Korena Johnson leads the team with 2.66 kills per game, followed closely by Furka’s 2.49 kills per game and Sienna Johnson’s 2.07 per game. Pace also ranks second in the Northeast-10 in digs with 18.99 per game, led by freshman Stephanie Kazmierczak (Buffalo, N.Y./City Honors), who ranks seventh in the NE-10 with 4.49 digs per game.

Franklin Pierce and Pace have met seven times in the last seven seasons, with the Setters holding a 5-2 edge during that time. Earlier this season, the teams met at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse on Sept. 28 and the Ravens came back from a 1-0 deficit to take a 3-1 (27-30, 30-17, 30-22, 30-23) match from the visiting Setters. Buchholz led three Ravens with double figure kill totals and tied for the match-high with 13 kills.

 

2007 Northeast-10 Conference
Women’s Volleyball Championship

 

 

QUARTERFINALS
Friday, November 9
#2 Bentley (22-8, 13-1 NE-10) vs. #7 Le Moyne (13-17, 7-7 NE-10), 5 p.m. (Court 1)

#3 Merrimack (17-12, 11-3 NE-10) vs. #6 UMass Lowell (12-21, 7-7 NE-10), 5 p.m. (Court 2)

#1 Bryant (27-12, 14-0 NE-10) vs. #8 Saint Rose (14-12, 7-7 NE-10), 7:30 p.m. (Court 1)

#4 Franklin Pierce (18-15, 10-4 NE-10) vs. #5 Pace (12-15, 9-5 NE-10), 7:30 p.m. (Court 2)

 

SEMIFINALS
Saturday, November 10
Bentley/Le Moyne vs. Merrimack/UMass Lowell, 2 p.m. (Court 1)

Bryant/Saint Rose vs. Franklin Pierce/Pace, 2 p.m. (Court 2)

 

CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday, November 10

Semifinal Winners, 7 p.m.