STEUBENVILLE, Ohio - In a bizarre morning match against the Grove City Wolverines the Lady Barons Volleyball team lost 3-1 (25-20, 13-25, 18-25, 20-25). After showing offensive discipline and accuracy FUS let the wheels fall off as they dropped three straight games to lose the match.

Mental fatigue plagued the Lady Barons who almost had to cancel their game due to heavy rain. Franciscans home gym, Finnegan Fieldhouse is currently undergoing an expansion and renovation including a new roof. The roof is in the middle of being replaced, and early rain storms made the left side of the court unsafe to play on due to leaks. Both teams considered canceling the match or relocating to a different site but ended up moving their court over to the dryer, right, back corner of the gym.

"It was a strange morning," Head Coach Kelly Herrmann said. "We show up expecting no setup because of the match we had last night, but instead we're moving our varsity mats and changing floor sleeves and measuring a new court. It's a lot to do and can change your mental composure."

Struggles with mental composure and inconsistency kept FUS from beating the Wolverines. After winning the first match and showing signs of discipline the Lady Barons lost their next three matches. FUS fell down early in those three matches and after showing sparks of solid play to close the gap an unforced error would typically take away that momentum.

"We'll have moments of greatness and we'll block the ball out of bounds, we'll have moments of greatness and hit the ball into the net" Herrmann said. "You have to keep playing together and work on the skill aspects that help clean up those errors."

A source of errors for Franciscan was in their blocking. The Lady Barons ended the game with 12 blocking errors.

"Blocking is somewhat unpredictable," Herrmann said. "If we could've taken most of the blocking errors and turned them into points for us we would have had a better time staying in the game."

FUS played tough on the front line against the Wolverines but many of their block attempts bounced out of bounds resulting in points for Grove City.

"We need to work on angling our blocks better," Herrmann said. "We need to be able to hit them on the middle of their floor. Otherwise, good teams like Grove City will bounce the ball off of you on its way out of bounds."

In a game with inconsistencies for FUS, sophomore Dani Link was a clear role model for her team. Link ended the game with 10 kill and 18 digs for FUS.

"Dani is a very serious player on the court," Herrmann said. "What makes her so strong is that she can change her attitude to be more or less aggressive. Her tangibles are also great. She can hit across really well and can hit strong on the outside. She is tough for the defense to account for. "

Franciscan will look to put this loss behind them as they focus on their next home match against conference opponent Penn State Beaver on Sept 23 at 7 pm.