OBERLIN, Ohio – Inconsistency and tough competition plagued Lady Baron volleyball in two 3-1 losses during their tri-match at Oberlin College. Franciscan lost to undefeated SUNY Geneseo (23-25, 17-25, 25-16, 10-25) and Oberlin (23-25, 25-23, 10-25, 20-25) despite strong serving throughout both matches.

"We made way too many errors. But while the errors are one thing, it was the inconsistency that was frustrating," Head Coach Kelly Herrmann said. "You're going to get some of that early in the season, you're going to get some of that with a bunch of young players and with a bigger team, but at the same time those inconsistencies can't be tolerated."

The up and down nature of Franciscan's play was evident in the set-by-set breakdown of the team's hitting. Against Geneseo, Franciscan had negative hitting percentages in sets two and four but managed a hitting percentage of 26 in game three which they won 25-16.

They almost repeated that stat line against Oberlin, hitting a solid 21 percent in a 25-23 second set win, then following that up with negative hitting percentages in sets three and four. Herrmann said those swings in her team's hitting efficiency was mostly a product of how her team set-up their hitters.

"It all starts with serving and serve-receive," Herrmann said. "When you receive the ball weakly and making weak passes where the setter doesn't have options then you've put your hitters at a disadvantage."

The flip side of that coin was the Lady Baron's effective serving. Juniors Sam Kelly and Christiana Lawrence led FUS against Geneseo with a combined five aces, while Lawrence and sophomores Rachel Potopa and Mary Moore added on another 12 against Oberlin.

"We created a certain amount of pressure with our serving. They had a lot of weaker returns off our serves," Herrmann said. "We really served tough and it really affected them. Now we just need to take advantage of it with our offense, which we didn't do."

Herrmann's intentional decision to play some of her younger players may have had an impact on the offensive maturity of the team, particularly in regards to the day's strong competition  

"These were two of the stronger team's we've faced for sure," Herrmann said. "We had some younger players in tough situations on purpose. We wanted to give them a chance to get in and get over their nerves."

Two of those young players who rose to the occasion against Oberlin were freshman middle hitter Maria Hruby, who finished with five kills and two blocks, and freshman right hitter Bella Wedig who played her first minutes after a preseason injury.

"She did a good job. She swings at the ball real well. Overall we were really pleased with how she played," Herrmann said. "She didn't play like someone who hasn't played much."

Wedig, Hruby and the rest of the Lady Barons will look to get more time on the court as they face Baldwin Wallace at home on September 10 at 7 pm.