When and Where: October 14, 2022 – Rindge, N.H. (The Fieldhouse)
Score: Southern New Hampshire University 3, Franklin Pierce University 2
Records: SNHU 11-3 (5-1 NE10), FPU 6-9 (1-4 NE10)

Three days after registering a career-best 17 kills and 53 assists, respectively, redshirt-junior Ana Pimenta (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) amassed 21 kills and senior Ainsley Knox (Houston, Texas) handed out 57 assists to lead the Southern New Hampshire University women's volleyball team to a 3-2 triumph against Franklin Pierce University on Friday evening at the FPU Fieldhouse.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Pimenta – career-high 21 kills, 12 digs, 2 blocks, 1 ace
• Knox – career-high 57 assists, career-high 13 digs, 1 ace
• Sophomore Deanne Wilson (No. Collins, N.Y.) – career-high 35 digs, 3 aces
• Sophomore Chiara Di Valerio (Terni, Italy) – season-high 12 kills, career-high 22 digs, 1 ace, 2 blocks
• Senior Kam Blaskey (Ventura, Calif.) – 10 kills, .346 hitting, career-high 7 blocks
• Graduate student Alice Arletti (Modena, Italy) – 10 kills, 6 digs
• Sophomore Carmen Bernardis (Trieste, Italy) – 9 kills, .471 hitting
• Senior Dai Thawnghmung (Lowell, Mass.) – 8 kills, 8 digs, 2 blocks

KEY MOMENTS

• With the opening set tied at 19-all, Southern New Hampshire reeled off five straight points. Franklin Pierce staved off match point three times, however, a Di Valerio kill put the Penmen up, 1-0.
• SNHU jumped out to a 6-1 lead and was ahead 9-4 in the second set, but Franklin Pierce would later score 13 of the final 18 points to steal the frame.
• FPU held a 19-18 edge in the third when it reeled off five straight and six of the last nine to go up, 2-1.
• The fourth frame was knotted at 8-all when the Penmen ripped off an 11-3 run – with four kills from Bernardis and a pair from Thawnghmung – to open a 19-11 advantage. SNHU would collect six of the final eight points – powered by three Pimenta kills – to force the winner-take-all fifth set.
• With Franklin Pierce holding a 9-7 edge in the fifth, Southern New Hampshire stunned the Ravens with a match-clinching 8-0 rush. Bernardis notched four kills during the stretch.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Set scores were 25-22, 20-25, 21-25. 25-15, 15-9.
• SNHU outhit Franklin Pierce in four of the five sets, as well as .200-.147, overall.
• The Ravens owned advantages in blocks (15-9) and aces (9-6).
• Bernardis tallied five fifth-set kills, while Blaskey added three.

NOTES

• Southern New Hampshire, which has captured six of its last seven matches, including five straight, is 11-3 for the first time since at least 1986.
• The Penmen have a five-match winning streak for the first time since Sept. 15-Oct. 9, 2018.
• Southern New Hampshire has now won four of the last five meetings with Franklin Pierce.
• This is the first of 11 wins that have come in five sets this season.

WHAT'S NEXT

• The Penmen return to action Tuesday, Oct. 18 (7 p.m.) when they travel across town to face Saint Anselm College.
• SNHU is back home Saturday, Oct. 22 (1 p.m.) when it plays host to American International College at the Stan Spirou Field House.

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