STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – The Lady Barons pulled out a close conference match against Medaille College in front of a large Homecoming crowd, winning in four sets 24-26, 25-20, 25-19, and 25-23.

"The big crowd is awesome, and I will take the big crowd any day," Head Coach Kelly Hermann said. "For my girls that tends to be a little nerveracking, I think in that first game the crowd kind of got to them a little bit. They definitely played better as the match went on."

The large crowd was able to rally the Lady Barons during a third set when they were down by eight points, their largest deficit of the match. Hermann called a timeout at 6-14 and was able to inspire the team to go on a 17-3 run.

"I'm always trying to encourage them," Hermann said about the team's attitude during that time out. "I told them to have fun, that they play better when they are having fun. Today, it was all about being more aggressive offensively."

In that third set, sophomore middle hitter Ellie Waldsmith came in to provide the team with the confidence needed to close out the set. Waldsmith had a particular impact on the Lady Barons' blocking game which was key to keeping the late sets close.

"The attitude in stressful moments is almost more important than athletic ability," Hermann said. "I think we have the ability we need to win. We just need to continue to play with confidence and be aggressive, especially to create opportunities for our offense."

Displaying both mental confidence and an aggressive attitude was junior outside hitter Dani Link. Hermann said that there was a point in the match where Link was blocked for a few kills in a row, but she did not let that affect her attitude. Link instead changed her hitting approach.

"Hitting is not always ability. Sometimes hitting is intelligence and making the right shot," Hermann said. "It's that kind of offensive balance with being able to dig balls and play defense. Dani is our best all-around outside hitter in terms of hitting hard and playing defense."

Hermann also displayed some confidence in some of her freshmen, bringing in outside hitter Ave Palguta during a close first set to help out the Lady Barons' offense.

"Ave's strength is hitting the ball hard, and she very seldom gets blocked. She puts the ball through the block a lot of times," Hermann said. "We are kind of trying different things with outside hitters. It's really cool that we have so many options, but, today, we felt like Ave was the answer."

Having different options in the rotation has been a key for the Lady Barons all season, giving different players a chance to start and play a full game. Freshman middle hitter Maria Hruby earned her first start of the season after a strong previous match and responded with a series of well placed kills, that kickstarted the Lady Barons comeback in the second set.

"We are getting there," Hermann said. "I'm just so proud that the girls didn't let it go to a fifth game. They really dug in and did what they needed to do."

The Lady Barons will continue to build their confidence during conference play on the road against La Roche College on October 8 at 7 pm.