CRESSON, Pa.—Despite being without team captain and standout outside hitter Meg Kay, who was injured in practice earlier this week and is due to be sidelined for 1-2 weeks, the Franciscan University Lady Barons were able to defeat conference foe Mt. Aloysius College on Wednesday, 3-2 (25-23, 16-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11).

"It was a tough one," said Lady Baron head coach Kelly Herrmann, "especially being shorthanded without Meg, who is a leader and a presence on the court. But, I thought it was an opportunity for other women to get their chance and step it up."

One player in particular certainly stepped it up for Franciscan. Sophomore outside hitter Teresa Hess stepped into a starting role in place of Kay and she contributed 20 kills over the five games, second only to a team-high 22 from Anna Cain. 

"[Teresa] played a really great, solid match. She played as if she had been playing [in that role] all season. When you get someone who doesn't get a lot of chances to play and then you throw them in like we did [with Teresa], you hope they play exactly like she played tonight."

Defense was a key to the Lady Baron victory, according to Herrmann. "We won some crazy points," she noted. "Ones where the points should have been over, but we made a save, and it's that kind of defense that wins games."

Herrmann noted the defensive play of Nicole Henson (44 digs) and Alyssa Wappes (33 digs). Maria Prezzia also chipped in with 27 saves on the night.

Offensively for the Lady Barons, Cain and Hess would not have been able to be so affective if not for the continued strong play from freshman setter Amy O'Keefe. She led the team again with 48 assists over the five games.

The Lady Barons have some top-conference performers thus far on the season, notably Cain, who is currently second in the Allegheny Mountain College Conference in hitting percentage (46 percent) and fourth in kills (3.58/set) while Kay is seventh in that category (2.84/set.) O'Keefe is fourth in the conference in assists (7.53/set.)

The Lady Barons are now 8-10 overall on the year as they sit tied for sixth in the AMCC with a 2-3 conference record. They travel to Marietta College this Saturday for a tri-match with Marietta and Wilmington College. Their next conference game is slated for Oct., 18 as they travel to La Roche College. Franciscan is 2-0 already this year against the Lady Redhawks.