LATROBE, Pa. – The second day of the St. Vincent College Bearcat Challenge didn't start well for Lady Baron volleyball, with a 3-0 loss to Allegheny College, but the team responded with a 3-0 win over Waynesburg College later in the day.

Franciscan head coach Kelly Herrmann said her girls were flat even in the pre-game warm-up before facing Allegheny. That lack of energy continued throughout the 25-14, 25-19, 25-14 losses.

"Volleyball is a game where you need emotion," Herrmann said. "I always tell the girls that you have to be a positive emotional force on the court and that if you're zero emotionally then you're really a negative."

The Lady Baron's lack of emotion was compounded by a relentless defensive Gator defense to create a noticeable difference in the stat sheet. Franciscan was only able to convert 8 percent of their attacks into kills and had no serving aces in the match.

Junior libero Sam Kelly was the primary bright spot for the team. She totaled 21 digs in the match, a number of which glossed over some otherwise uninspired defensive play.

"Everybody in that game was out of position at times and not in their spots but Sam can make up for so much of that," Herrmann said. "She is able to dig so many balls you just don't think she has a chance to get."

After the disappointing loss Herrmann said she was curious to see how her team would respond a few hours later in their game against Waynesburg and this time there was no disappointment. With a 25-12 first set the Lady Barons made it clear they had regained their focus and went on to win the final two sets 25-19, 25-22.

"You could tell everybody was really working hard to be that positive emotional push for their teammates," Herrmann said.

For the first time this season, freshman middle hitter Maria Hruby was able to make a significant positive impact on the court. After being limited in the previous three matches due to injury, Hruby was able to play two out of the match's three sets and finished with five kills and just one error.

"She was really starting to get into a rhythm," Herrmann said. "For a player who barely even got to play in the preseason, I was really happy to see that."

Sophomore Emily Baznik also showed a marked improvement from the day's first game to its second and began to settle into her new position at right hitter after playing most of last year in the middle.

"She struggled in the Allegheny match, partly because the timing is different with that hitting," Herrmann said. "She was really getting down herself but she came out against Waynesburg and played extremely well. Her blocking is always good but she started hitting the ball really well."

Two themes that continued from previous matches were the play of sophomore outside hitter Dani Link, who led the team with six kills against Allegheny, and the continued display of the team's depth. Herrmann played 11 different players against Allegheny and played all but two of her 18 players against Waynesburg.

The Lady Barons and Waynesburg will meet again for the Franciscan's home opener on September 3 at 7 pm.

"You can never think that a win means an automatic anything for the next game you play," Herrmann said. "We have to realize that we have a lot of things to work on and that we have to play better in order to win on Wednesday."