PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Franciscan volleyball team dropped a closely contested 3-1 match to #14 Carnegie Mellon, Wednesday night.

"We were very competitive in the first three games, especially until about the 18t point when we just started to struggle," remarked head coach Kelly Herrmann. "We did play a very aggressive game, we still have somethings to work on but we are definitely getting to them in practice."

The Lady Barons dropped the first two sets, 25-18, 25-17, before rallying back to take the third set 25-23. FUS dropped the fourth and deciding set, 25-16.

"The girls stayed very fired up and excited to play. We are getting though the things we need to work and played well. We got Maddie (Raffa) back tonight and she played very well. Mary Moore had a great defensive game for us which was good to see."

Maria Ciola and Raffa led the Lady Barons with 10 and nine kills, respectively, while Moore posted 14 digs in the four sets. Sophomore Becca Haven handed out 30 assists for FUS. The Lady Barons got two aces from Raffa, Theresa Moore, Mary Moore and Haven.

Franciscan returns to action on Friday when the team kicks off the Marcia French Memorial Tournament against Marietta (3pm) and Bluffton (5:30pm) hosted by Wooster.