Box Score

Junior Sierra Brown (San Diego, Calif.) enjoyed a career-high 16 kills, but it wasn't enough as UMass Lowell volleyball fell in five sets at Franklin Pierce on Tuesday night in Rindge, NH.

“I'm very happy with our performance, we had opportunities to win—and I wish we did—but it was a great match,” said head coach Karen McNulty. 

The River Hawks (5-6, 0-2 Northeast-10) will stay on the road as they head to Le Moyne on Sunday for a 1 PM contest with the Dolphins. Likewise, the Ravens (7-8, 1-0 NE-10) head to Bridgeport on Friday for a 7 PM match.

Sophomore Ella Merrill (Bermuda Dunes, Calif.) got off to a hot start to land UMass Lowell a 25-23 win in the opening set. Merrill tallied seven kills and three digs to lead the attack.

The second set produced the opposite result as the Ravens surged to a 19-25 victory to even up the match. Junior Carolyn Eddy (Dracut, Mass.) played well, dealing out seven assists and digging nine balls to orchestrate the passing game.

The third frame was marked by a series of momentum shifts before Franklin Pierce ultimately took the win, 17-25. The River Hawks made runs of four and six points to grab an early 11-6 lead, but Franklin Pierce countered with seven straight points of its own to regain the lead—a change UMass Lowell failed to recover from. Despite the low point total, Merrill was strong on the attack again, scoring four kills and three digs.

With the momentum in the Raven's corner, the River Hawks dug deep and scored a 26-24 win to force a fifth set. Trailing 23-24, UMass Lowell landed three straight with a Franklin Pierce error sandwiched in between kills from Brown and Merrill. Brown came alive in the fourth set, scoring seven kills with a .545 hitting percentage.

The Ravens ultimately took the match with a 9-15 win in the final frame, led by three kills from Franklin Pierce's Catie Swiderski (Rocky Point, N.Y.).

For the match, Brown finished with a career-best 16 kills to lead the offense.

“Sierra hit well and started blocking at the end of the game,” McNulty added. “It was the kind of performance I'm hoping to have from her moving forward.”

Brown was trailed slightly by Merrill with 14 kills and 10 digs for her second double-double of the year. Sophomore Anisa Smith (Moraga, Calif.) also cracked double-digits with 11 kills and eight digs.

In the passing game, Eddy had a team-best 18 digs, 15 assists and two service aces. Meanwhile, senior Kristina Wiltjer (Temecula, Calif.) tallied a season-high 26 assists and junior Olivia Parkins (Dracut, Mass.) dished out 13 assists.

The Raven's top scorer was Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.) who tallied 14 kills and nine digs. Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) finished with a match-high 23 digs.