STEUBENVILLE – Franciscan University of Steubenville Lady Baron volleyball team hosted its second preconference game versus Muskingum College on Monday. Resulting in a 3-0 loss for the Lady Barons, the season is now split 1-1.

Learning to play as a team takes time and experience, and the women's volleyball team is no exception this fall. The Lady Barons lost all three of their games on the night, and according to head coach Kelly Herrmann, two factors played a part in the defeat.

"The first factor was simply that the team needs more time on the court together," said Herrmann. "They have only played three matches before the game tonight, and by the end of this week, the team will have played six matches together. The more time and experience the women have together, the better they will be able to play.

"Aggressive errors, such as hitting the ball into the net or out of bounds, are not a problem," she continued, "but the women made too many trivial errors tonight. That was the second factor. It's a little disappointing and they need to clean up their game a little bit, which will come with playing time."

The Lady Barons came out very strong for their third game on the tonight, despite losing the first two matches 17-25 and 11-25. The team tied the third game 21-21 at one point, but in the end Muskingum took the game by four points, winning 21-25. Alyssa Wappes had a standout match with eight kills, two aces, one solo block, and one block assist. Meg Kay tallied a noteworthy 11 kills, while Amy O'Keefe added 12 assists and Maria Prezzia followed closely behind with seven assists.

The Lady Barons continue their nonconference play this Wednesday, Sept. 7, traveling to Waynesburg University for an evening match beginning at 7 p.m.