PITTSBURGH—Franciscan University volleyball is already very familiar with the La Roche College Redhawks this season. La Roche has traveled to Finnegan Fieldhouse twice, both times in non-conference play, and both times falling to the Lady Barons, 3-0. Wednesday night, Franciscan traveled to the Redhawk home court for a conference match, and the victory favored the Lady Barons once again, 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-17).
"When you go into a game like we did tonight, you're always trying to play a complete game," said FUS head coach Kelly Herrmann. "You're trying to get quick offense and keep a certain level of composure and focus, and I think we did a great job of that tonight."
Anna Cain led the Lady Barons in kills on the evening with 14, while Jackie Zucco pitched in with six.
"Anna hit the ball really well as always," noted Herrmann, "and Jackie Zucco – although her stats might not necessarily show it – is really settling well into that middle position."
Defensively for Franciscan, five players had at least eight digs, with four of those players reaching double-digit digs on the evening. Alyssa Wappes led the team in digs with 19, while Nicole Henson added 14, Teresa Hess and Amy O'Keefe each chipped in with ten, and Kaitlyn Kohlhass added eight.
The Lady Barons were still without captain and powerful outside hitter Meg Kay. Coach Herrmann said it is probable that Kay will be back on the floor for Franciscan in front of its home crowd this Saturday against Penn State Behrend.
"We played a really good, complete game tonight. Our hitters hit well, we served well, and our digs were very evenly spread out."
There are a lot of different post-season scenarios that could potentially play out depending on the results of the final few Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference games. Franciscan now sits in fifth place in the AMCC with a conference record of 3-3 and an overall record of 10-11 as it takes on No. 4 Penn State Behrend (4-2 AMCC, 12-14 overall) on Saturday, October 22, at Finnegan Fieldhouse beginning at 1 p.m.
