LATROBE, Pa. – The Franciscan volleyball team fell to Muskingum 3-0 to open the day and after a hard-fought and arguably best played match of the tournament, the Lady Barons fell to St. Vincent, 3-0, during the final day of the Bearcat Challenge.

The Lady Barons dropped a heartbreaker to Muskingum to kick off the day this morning but rebounded and play some of their best volleyball of the young season against St. Vincent in the final game.

Commenting on the first game, head coach Kelly Herrmann remarked that "we have a lot to work on as a program. We have to figure it out but we have a lot of new players. Not only that, we have a few returners that are playing in new roles. We just have to learn to not play tentatively."

"St. Vincent is the home team of the tournament and they play with a lot of emotion and are a loud team – we have to come out and match that emotion and play like we have nothing to lose," coach Herrmann urged her team prior to the St. Vincent match.

The Lady Barons took those words of encouragement to heart and played good volleyball to close the tournament. Though they didn't come away with the result they wanted, coach Herrmann was encouraged by the level of play the girls displayed.

"We played really well and steady against St. Vincent. Callahan Hickey served eight points in a row in the third set to help turn it around  for us and give us a lead, 21-19. We did lose the set but we played really well."

Franciscan fell in straight sets to the Bearcats, but all of the sets were hard fought and tightly played. Sophomore Becca Haven led the Lady Barons with 12 kills for the match while Rachel Potopa handed out 16 assists. Sophomore Maria Ciola led FUS with 13 digs and had eight kills against St. Vincent.

Hickey was rewarded for her consistent play during the weekend as she was named to the All-Tournament Team. Against St. Vincent, Hickey had 10 digs and brought stability to the Lady Barons through the weekend.

"I am really proud of how our defense played today. We talked a lot about what is in our control between our two matches, and I challenged the girls to ask themselves not 'what does the team need to do' but 'what do I need to do' and they really turned it around in the final match," stated coach Herrmann.

"I am looking forward to playing Washington and Jefferson on Monday."

The Lady Barons head to Washington, Pa. on Monday to take on the Presidents at 7pm.