STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – After defeating Waynesburg University in their previous match, Franciscan University women's volleyball beat the Yellow Jackets again, winning their home opener 3-0.

The match played out similarly to the teams' first meeting with the Lady Barons taking an early 4-0 lead in the first set and never letting go, winning 25-16, 25-19, and 25-10.

Once again, Franciscan's head coach, Kelly Herrmann, used the non-conference match to play most of her roster but the two standouts were returning starters Dani Link, who led the team in kills for the fourth time this season, and Ana Tolkach.

"Dani has just been hitting with a lot of confidence. I'm really happy with her," Head Coach Kelly Herrmann said. "Ana Tolkach was just a beast today, hitting the ball very well."

The sophomore middle hitter, Tolkach, had a dramatic impact on the game despite only playing for the first set and parts of the second set, totally 6 kills and no errors. Her hitting also made a tremendous impact on the ball with a number of kills hit with so much force they garnered an audible response from the crowd.

Quality serving also played an important role for Franciscan, particularly from sophomore setter Rachel Potopa who finished with three aces and hand full of Franciscan rallies while she held serve. Potopa also finished with eight assists and six digs in what was an impressive, well rounded performance.

"She is proving to be a real key player for us," Herrmann said. "She is serving the ball really well and she also plays back row defensively or sets from the back row."

The team played at a relatively high level despite another match of heavy substitutions. Herrmann said that while her players still need to work on their offensive time, particularly when new players come on to the court, she was happy with their ability to take early leads and then close out each set.

"The fact that we had leads gave us the opportunity to do that, but to sub a lot can make you disjointed," Herrmann said. "To play 14 players, that's a lot of volleyball players."

One of the last players off the bench finished with one of the more memorable five minute stretches of play. Freshman outside hitter Ave Palguta subbed in for Link during the third set and made two kills on her first two touches of the ball. She eventually finished with four kills and no errors.

"She is a good hitter and after standing their cold for two games she came in and did a great job," Herrmann said.

Franciscan plays their next game on the road at SUNY Geneseo on September 6th at 1:00 p.m.