PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Franciscan volleyball team dropped a 3-0 match to AMCC opponent, La Roche, Tuesday night.

Franciscan built a 19-15 lead in the first set behind a service ace from Maria Ciola and a kill from Becca Haven but the Red Hawks cut the Lady Baron lead to 21-20 with a 4-1 run. FUS answered with three-straight points to earn its first set point of the match, 24-20. La Roche would not back down, however, and rallied to tie the set at 24-24. Franciscan won the next point thanks to a  LAR service error to bring the score to 25-24, but the Red Hawks took the next three points to win 27-25 and take a 1-0 lead.

"I am proud of the girls and how they played and didn't back down after the first set," remarked head coach Kelly Herrmann. "La Roche came out and played with a lot of emotion and fire and that's a tough team to go play against."

The Red Hawks came out in the second set and built a 16-7 lead quickly. The Lady Barons rallied and chipped away at the lead and pulled within five, 21-16, but could not overtake La Roche as the Red Hawks won 25-18 to take a 2-0 lead in the contest.

The Red Hawks and the Lady Barons engaged in a tight battle to begin the third set as Franciscan took a 17-14 lead in the third set. La Roche battled back and took a 22-19 off two Lady Baron attack errors and a kill from Laura Nath. Franciscan took its last lead of the match off a kill from Maddie Raffa at 23-22 but the Red Hawks closed out the match with a 25-22 set win.

Freshman Roz Pridemore led the Lady Barons with nine kills while Haven finished with 10 assists and Rachel Potopa handed out five assists and posted nine digs.

"Rachel and Becca really played well today despite not feeling well," remarked coach Herrmann.

"We need to be more consistent with our passing and need to get better there, but we'll get there."

The Lady Barons return home on Saturday as they host Penn State Behrend at 1pm. Franciscan University and the volleyball team will honor its two seniors, Rachel Potopa and Mary Moore before, during and after the match.