ERIE, Pa. – Franciscan University's volleyball team split their two matches against Penn St. - Behrend and Medaille College in a conference play opening quad match. The Lady Barons lost to Behrend in four close games 3-1 and afterward beat Medaille 3-0 to end their day.

A young FUS roster went into their first AMCC match against the Lions (12-3) ready to prove themselves against a more experienced conference opponent. Franciscan gave Behrend all they could handle going into extra points three times in their four game match (26-28, 24-26, 26-24, 18-25). FUS beat PSB in almost every statistical category during their match including kills, digs, and blocks. The Lady Barons also had more errors than Behrend and it cost them the close match.

"We did a lot of things really well," Head coach Kelly Herrmann said. "We just had bad errors at really crucial times. We need to work on our skills and not let those get in our way in the future. We need to continue to improve."

Franciscan found themselves down early 1-7 in the first game but fought their way back and pushed the game into extra points. FUS hung with the Lions for the entire match and proved to themselves that they can play well against any opponent.

One of Franciscan's main goals going into the match was limiting PSB's senior setter Chelsea Magnusen an all-conference player in 2012. FUS kept her to only four kills on the day.

"We did that by playing aggressively and letting our offense dictate the flow of the game," Herrmann said. "If we hit that ball hard back at them it's harder for them to dig it up and return it on us."

Franciscan had impressive stats at the end of their game. Sophomore middle hitter Dani Link led her team with 14 kills while freshman middle hitter Ana Tolkach collected 13 kills of her own. Defensively, junior setter Amy O'Keefe had 16 digs while sophomore libero Sam Kelly and Link each had 15 digs of their own.

O'Keefe kept the offense involved the entire match playing disciplined and accurate while she set other hitters.

"When Amy is on it helps the hitters manage their errors and limit their inconsistency," Herrmann said. "When she is playing well you can bet our hitters are going to perform well."

After ending up on the wrong side of a close match, FUS came out against Medaille College and beat the Mavericks 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-14). The Lady Barons were a little cold during the first game and needed extra points to put away Medaille but found their groove in the second and closed them out in the third.

"We were a little mentally tired in that first game," Herrmann said. "We had just come off a roller coaster match and we had to wait longer than we thought until we could play again. I'm proud of the girls for staying loose and keeping control."

FUS showed their depth against the Mavericks who are in a rebuilding year after graduating their strong seniors from last season. Junior right side hitter Jackie Zucco came off the bench and helped her team maintain their lead.

"Jackie was great and did exactly what we need," Herrmann said. "She is someone we like to have to replace our girls when they get tired during days like this. She showed so much emotion and dove on the floor for everything. Her effort was enormous."

FUS will try and continue to improve on their strong performance in a rematch against the University of Pitt.- Greensburg on October 2 at 7 pm. Franciscan beat Greensburg 3-0 in their second match of the year and look forward to gaining momentum for the rest of conference play.