WAYNESBURG, Pa– Showing off their highest mental awareness of the season, the Lady Barons volleyball team put away the Waynesburg University Yellow jackets in five games (22-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-23, 15-10).

It was a strong statement game for FUS who not only limited their errors, but hit the ball aggressively on offense, allowing them to score against the more experienced Waynesburg team.

"We cleaned up our errors as we went along," Head Coach Kelly Herrmann said. "We had a few nervous errors in the beginning but we played a very consistent game and that is what you want to do if you are going to win."

Errors have plagued the Lady Barons in the beginning of their season as they look to balance out their roster with many new players, half of them freshman. Their current roster seems to be putting the pieces together as they create a new identity, different from last year's successful team lead by Anna Cain.

"We have no weaknesses on our court," Herrmann said. "We transition strong and we have a strong approach to the ball. We ran our offense through Anna in years past and when she was off the court we could lose our aggressiveness."

While having a deep roster did not yield wins in the early games of the season, FUS has shown extreme stamina and mental toughness to hold onto leads and keep playing until a win is produced. The Lady Barons are 2-1 in their last three games.

Depth proved to be the deciding factor for the Lady Barons, who were able to reach to their bench for solid serving late in the match. With the score 22-22 in a potential elimination fourth game for Franciscan, sophomore Claire Prezzia came off the bench to serve for the first time and forced the match into a deciding game five.

"She did not give them easy balls," Herrmann said. "Claire came in completely cold and dominated that back row. I was really proud of her."

Sophomore Dani Link also drew attention to her offensive prowess in the fifth game. Striking from the outside hitting position, Link took control of the final game after a yellow jacket timeout by accurately hitting the ball against the line of the court. Her power and accuracy put the game away for her team.

"Dani is overall our most powerful hitter," Herrmann said. "When you have hitters that can hit the line it challenges the defense and forces them to cover the whole court. She is exactly what we need if we want to win."

The Lady Barons saw success with an aggressive offense that has been gradually speeding up their play as they get more comfortable with each other in game time situations.

"We are speeding it up and gaining confidence," Herrmann said. "We have a long ways to go but we are in our ninth game of the season and we certainly nine matches better than when we started."

FUS will look to improve even more on Sept 14 when they take on Chatham University.