STEUBENVILLE – After losing the very first match of the year to the College of Wooster in straight sets, the Franciscan volleyball team battled through an intense five sets to win the second time around 22-25, 25-22, 23-25, 26-24 and 15-12.

"That was so exciting," head coach Kelly Herrmann said. "It was a real team victory. To step off the court after an intense victory like this, the girls can feel the pride and the joy of persevering through the tough moments. That just makes me really happy for them."

In the first set of that very first game, Wooster came out with a lopsided 25-5 score but that did not set the tone for the rest of that match or for the rematch.

"We talked about that before the game, how we lost to them 25-5," Herrmann said. "Now that was the very first game of the season. We were not playing well but that's just volleyball.  That's the craziness of momentum of the game of volleyball. You can't get too fired up when you win. You can't get too down when you lose. You have to just be steady and work for consistency."

Unlike the team's last game against Capital, the Lady Barons jumped out to an early lead in every set, forcing the Fighting Scots to play from behind and work for their points.

Freshman defensive specialist Callahan Hickey set the tone early with her performance in the back row as Wooster was particularly attacking the freshman in serve receive, trying to expose any weaknesses. Hickey finished with seven digs in the match.

"The player that just continues to impress us for being a freshman is Callahan," Herrmann said. "I could not be happier with her defense in the back row." 

Senior libero Samantha Kelly also helped to stabilize the Lady Barons defense with a team-leading 28 digs.

"She just gets to some balls and you just don't know where she comes from," Herrmann said. "I appreciate her wanting to get every ball and not being satisfied with anything less."

After losing the first set 25-22, sophomore right side hitter Bella Wedig subbed into the game during the second set and helped to carry the Lady Barons on offense with nine kills on the night. However, the sophomore proved herself more valuable in the late sets when she started to take second balls for the setter, which is not reflected in the one assist she finished with. 

"Bella hit extremely well and she set well late in the match when she had to," Herrmann said. "That's not her strength. That's something she's worked on, so that was really good."

After having a 21-15 lead and then losing the third set, the Lady Barons really had to fight in the final two sets, complete with long points that finished in Franciscan's favor.

"I was just really proud of their fight and their focus, especially to win that fourth game and then to come out in the fifth game and take control of that game right away," Herrmann said. "That's obviously a big key in that fifth game."

All of the momentum from the fourth set carried over to the fifth set where Franciscan just came out and dominated with 12 kills as compared to only one error.

"We managed our errors really well in that fifth game," Herrmann said. "In the end, when the pressure is on in that fifth game, it's good to manage that situation."

Franciscan still has two more nonconference matches before returning to AMCC play next week. Herrmann continued to stress the importance of nonconference matches to her team in the locker room after tonight's match.

"Our goal is to win our conference," Herrmann said. "In order to do that, we have to keep getting better every day. This match, nonconference matches, are just for them to focus and work on certain things, to go and have fun. It's one more step." 

The Lady Barons will participate in a tri-match with Bethany College (W.V.) and Grove City, hosted by Bethany, on Saturday October 17 at 1 and 3 p.m.