RINDGE, N.H. – The Southern New Hampshire University volleyball team was defeated by a score of 3-1 to Franklin Pierce in Northeast-10 Conference action Tuesday afternoon. SNHU is now 12-11 overall and 7-6 in the league, while the Ravens improve to 13-7 and 8-5 in conference play.

Sophomore Catherine Cotton (Murphy, Texas) who recently broke the single season assist record previously held by Lauren Lorenz, dished out 38 assists on the night. Cotton has compiled 881 assists thus far on the season to break the previous record of 773.

The Penmen got themselves into trouble early, losing the first two sets by scores of 25-13 and 27-25, but they were able to make a comeback in the third set taking it by a score of 26-24. However, the Ravens did not go away, and took the final fourth set by a score of 25-17 to retire SNHU.  

Despite a slow start for SNHU, down 2-0, the visitors were able to grab a third set win after overcoming a five-point deficit midway through the frame. Trailing 17-12, Megan Salamun (Scottsdale, Arizona) and Ashlee Daoust (Brookline, N.H.) connected on back-to-back kills followed by a Raven attack error to cut the lead to two.

Franklin Pierce quickly answered with a three-point run, but SNHU answered right back scoring four straight to cut the lead to one point. Despite not leading once in the set, the Penmen fought their way back to tie it up at 24-24. Nina McGouldrick (Richardson, Texas), and Emma Houlihan (Shoreham, N.Y.) put the Ravens away with a service ace followed by a Houlihan kill to take the set and put the Penmen on the board with a score of 2-1.

The teams traded the first 12 points of the fourth set, but Franklin Pierce began to pull away at the 11-7 mark. The Penmen were able to cut the lead to three at 15-12, but the Ravens continued to build their lead, and ran away with the match.

Houlihan totaled 15 kills on the night along with three blocks, while McGouldrick added 12 kills and nine digs. Maeghan Higgins (Hesperia, Calif.) tallied 23 digs defensively.

The Penmen return to action on Friday, November 15 when they travel to New Haven for their last regular season game slated for 7:00 p.m.

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