STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – Franciscan women's volleyball played one of its most consistent matches of the season despite being on the wrong end of a five-set loss to Washington & Jefferson 22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 21-25 and 14-16.

"Overall, I thought it was a really good effort and we played well enough to win, " head coach Kelly Herrmann said. "I told the girls afterward to be proud of their effort. It was a really hard-fought, tough match. The team is being aggressive, they're hitting hard, we passed extremely well so we feel good."

The Lady Barons struggled a little bit to get to the block in the first set so Herrmann subbed in sophomore middle hitter Monica Rigaud who was able to help the blocking effort. Rigaud finished with four of the team's 12 blocks.

"We were struggling a little bit getting to the block, reading the block really, so we brought Monica Rigaud in," Herrmann said. "She is just a beastly blocker. She really helped us there. We out-blocked them but then you have to be able to cover those tips. We were a little slow to read them in that fourth game and that's something we need to work on." 

Junior setter Rachel Potopa was also able to come off the bench and have an impact in the game. The junior led the team in assists with 21.

"The setters needed help so Rachel Potopa came in and played extremely well," Herrmann said. "Overall I thought that it was a really good effort and that our bench really came through." 

On the offensive side, senior outside hitter Dani Link led the team in kills with 19 despite battling an illness while fellow senior Christina Lawrence contributed 17 kills of her own.

"On any day, that's a good day, but for Dani to have 19 kills and hit .241 given the fact that she wasn't feeling her best tonight, that was really impressive," Herrmann said.

Herrmann added, "I thought Christina played absolutely tremendous. I was really impressed with her performance for someone who is not technically an outside hitter, to have 17 kills. She has been playing better and better since she got the chance to be in the front row again which is good for her. That just gives us more options. I was pleased with both Dani and Christina."

After this one-match break from conference play, the Lady Barons' next game will be a rematch of last year's AMCC championship match in which the Lady Barons came back from two sets down to upset no. 1 seeded Penn St.-Altoona. Despite the hype that surrounds the next game, Herrmann was able to keep her team focused on the match at hand. 

"I told the girls that we always have to take one match at a time so we were focused on W&J," Herrmann said. "I'm not worried about Wednesday. We worry about the next match at practice tomorrow. We keep telling the girls this is a process. The season is a process. Every opportunity to step on the court is an opportunity to get better, to learn something and move forward. I definitely think this match was that kind of a match."

Franciscan will host the Lady Lions of Penn St.-Altoona on Wednesday, September 30 at 7 p.m.