STEUBENVILLE, Ohio - Lady Baron Volleyball split their final two matches of the La Roche Volleyball Invitational with a rematch, five game victory against Carlow University (22-25, 25-23, 2-25, 25-17, 16-15) and a three game loss to Washington & Jefferson College (18-25, 21-25, 16-25). Franciscan was able to corrected the on-court errors that cost them crucial points earlier in the tournament.

For the first time all season FUS successfully battled back from a big deficit to win their match. After a 2-25 game three loss against Carlow, Franciscan started game four down 2-3.

"Everything fell apart in that third game," head coach Kelly Herrmann said. "The girls were all looking at each other and scratching their heads because they could not find an answer."

Maturity blossomed for the young FUS team and they found their answer as they looked past the 23 point loss and focused on their next two games. Herrmann said she decided not to pressure her girls but instead let her team rely on their confidence and aggressiveness to complete the comeback.

"They are hard enough on themselves," Herrmann said. "Some girls have really bad attitudes and they don't respond well to big losses but our girls our special and they didn't need me to embarrass them because they were already embarrassed."

The victory was a big step forward for the young FUS team who has been trying to find an identity with so many new players on their roster. The Lady Barons proved they have been progressing with each game by beating a team the lost to in three games exactly one week earlier.

"We were honestly very evenly matched against them last weekend even though we lost," Herrmann said. "We just have to play to our potential. We came in today and played much more consistently. The girls were really looking forward to this match."

Offensively, sophomore Dani Link had 13 kills and newcomers Jen Pagano and Anna Polkach each had eight kills of their own. On the defensive side, Link had 15 digs and fellow sophomores Samantha Kelly and Christina Lawrence each had 12 digs. Kelly battled injury in the fist match against Carlow and eventually had to be sidelined for their second match against W&J.

FUS had the opportunity to switch around their roster and work out of different defensive sets against the Presidents while Kelly's injury kept the First-Team All-Conference libero out of the match.

"We changed up our defenses against them which is good. We made progress but got tired," Herrmann said. "Whenever you play without Sam you are at a huge disadvantage. The other girls worked very hard and did well."

Eager to take advantage of the open roster spot, freshman Maryanna Leonard requested to serve against W&J for the first time this season. The pressure of serving in her first NCAA match didn't phase her as she served and ace on her very first attempt and finished the match with two aces.

"I loved her assertiveness," Herrmann said of Loenard's performance. "She isn't scared of anything and she has really great communication with her team."

FUS will look to ride the momentum into their next match against Chatham Univeristy in Pittsburgh on Sept 14 at 12pm.