STEUBENVILLE – The Franciscan volleyball team fell in straight sets to visiting AMCC opponent, Pitt.-Greensburg, Wednesday evening.

The Bobcats won by set scores of 25-14, 25-23, 25-17 and improved to 8-19 on the year and 4-4 in the AMCC while the Lady Barons dropped to 6-20 and 4-4 in the conference.

After battling back from a 5-2 deficit to take a 7-6 lead behind Rachel Potopa's serving, the Lady Barons seemed poised to make a run in the first set. The Bobcats took control of the set with a 9-0 run and led 15-7. Franciscan was not able to make a dent in the UPG lead and the Bobcats took a 1-0 lead with the 25-14 set win.

In the second set, the Lady Barons were able to build a lead of their own, 6-3, but the Bobcats chipped away and tied it, 9-9. Freshman Maddie Raffa and sophomore Callahan Hickey scored back-to-back points for the Lady Barons to give the lead back to Franciscan, 11-9. The back and forth affair continued until Franciscan took its last lead, 19-17. The Bobcats continued to battle and scored six-straight points to take a 23-19 lead. The Lady Barons cut the deficit in half as they pulled within two, 23-21. The Bobcats earned their first set point off a block but Monica Rigaud posted back to back kills to get the Lady Barons within one, 24-23. Autumn Karlheim finished off the set, though, with a kill to give UPG a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-23 set win.

Franciscan held its last lead of the match as the Lady Barons built a 6-5 lead in the third set. That lead was short-lived, however, as the Bobcats used a 12-4 run to take a 17-10 lead and control of the match and set. Franciscan continued to battle however and cut the lead back to 23-15 off a Bobcat service error. A UPG attack error and a kill from Maria Ciola got the Lady Barons within seven, 24-17, but Renee Ault finished off the set and match with a kill to complete the three-set sweep.

"We are definitely disappointed with the loss tonight," remarked head coach Kelly Herrmann. "But we will learn from it and come out and play better against D'Youville on Saturday."

Franciscan wraps up the regular season on Saturday as the Lady Barons travel to D'Youville for a 1pm match.