Lady Barons Fall to Muskingum

By Dylan Ehle

STEUBENVILLE, OH. - Franciscan University of Steubenville Lady Barons had a home match against an extremely talented Muskingum College team on Wednesday night.  After three hard-fought sets, the Lady Barons fell to Muskingum, 25-10, 25-15, and 25-10.

"Very clearly, Muskingum is the cream of the crop, they have a very solid program," Head Coach Kelly Herrmann said of their opponents, "While you have to believe that you can win every match, we when play a team like Muskingum, we are just trying to find where we stand in relation to an extremely good program.  One thing that you cannot do is give Muskingum points - you have to make them fight for each and every one, and that is what we strove to do tonight."

Several of the Lady Barons posted decent numbers in the loss.  Ali Aeschliman of Steubenville, OH, posted four kills, while teammate Kelsey Bowker added six.  Paddy Scott chipped in with five assists and eight digs, and Teresa Marcotte added six assists.

Coach Herrmann was quick to praise the development of Nicole Henson, the team's Defensive Specialist.  "Nicole's play is continuing to get better and better, and her presence is always an added boost for our team," she remarked.

Even though they lost, Coach Herrmann still found several areas in which her team excelled in the match.  "We certainly hustled, worked hard, and dug a lot of balls.  Against a team like this, you won't win with three good balls - you need six, nine, twelve, or even fifteen.  We were hustling, the ladies were really working hard, and they were willing to put their bodies on the floor."

The Lady Barons' next match is at home against University of Pitt Bradford.