Texas A&M International swept Franklin Pierce in three sets (26-24, 25-20, 25-20) in season opening action for both teams on Thursday afternoon at the Fieldhouse on the FPU campus in Rindge, N.H.
 
The first set went back and forth with several lead changes. Franklin Pierce led by four points twice (17-13 and 19-15) before TAMIU stormed back for the win. Senior Ronnie Foundation started the decisive rally with a kill to cut the opponent lead to 19-16. Junior Annie Deininger closed out the win with a kill to the center of the court, capping off the two-point win.
 
The Dustdevils never trailed in the second set. With the set tied 13-13 TAMIU went on a 10-3 run to build an insurmountable 23-16 lead. TAMIU trailed only once in the third set at that was an early 7-6 deficit. From that point the Dustdevils went on a 10-2 run to build a 16-9 lead. Deininger closed out the set and match with a kill to the left center of the court, with the Raven defender having no chance of keeping the ball in play.
 
Freshman Allison Wade led the Dustdevils with nine kills with Deininger and senior Leah McManus finishing with five kills apiece. Fountain finished with a team high 15 assists with freshman Masion Kosse contributing 10 assists. Senior libero Lacy Asdourian led the squad with 12 digs.

TAMIU head coach Susie Jangada is happy with the win but knows there is room for improvement.

"I am really happy to start the season off with a win," Jangada began.

"These girls have been working really hard the last couple of weeks and it was good to see how much they have improved since we started. We still have work to do but I am happy where we are beginning."
 
TAMIU will remain at Franklin Pierce to compete in the Raven First Service Invitational the next two days. The Dustdevils will face California University of Pennsylvania and LIU Post on Friday and Wilmington and the University of New Haven on Saturday.