HAMBURG, NY – The Franciscan volleyball team kicked off AMCC action with a pair of wins at the conference quad match held by Hilbert. The Lady Barons defeated the hosts in three sets before taking Medaille to five and the eventual win, Saturday afternoon.

Franciscan jumped out to a comfortable 25-14 lead in the first set against Hilbert. The Hawks battled through the second but the Lady Barons used 13 kills to take a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-20 win. The Lady Barons closed out the match with a 25-12 win in the final set.

"We committed too many errors in our first match with Hilbert," remarked head coach Kelly Herrmann. "We played well enough to win but it wasn't our best volleyball. Maria was on fire for the match and they just didn't have an answer for her."

Maria Ciola led the team with an impressive .478 hitting percentage in the match with 13 kills. Ciola added three digs and three block assists.

Middle hitter Meghan Bayer continues to impress as well as she finished with six kills against the Hawks and added two solo blocks and two block assists.

After watching a long four-set match between Pitt.-Greensburg and Hilbert, the Lady Barons took on Medaille in their final match of the day.

The Lady Barons jumped out to a two-set lead behind 25-16 and 25-20 set scores, Franciscan found themselves tied with the Mavericks 2-2 after a 25-20 and 25-18 set win. Playing in their first five-set match of the season, the Lady Barons looked to close out the day with a pair of AMCC wins.

"We started off pretty well," remarked Coach Herrmann. "We won comfortably in the first two sets but we didn't see Medaille's best volleyball. They are a very capable volleyball team and I told the girls that we can't rely on other team's mistakes and have to create our own points. The girls really stayed positive though and battled through."

After trailing 8-6 at the switch in the fifth set, the Lady Barons tied it at eight, then again at 10, 13, 14 and 15. Down 16-15, the Lady Barons won the serve and sent Meghan Bayer back to serve.

"Earlier in the day, I told Meghan that is a good server and just needs to focus on good contact," remarked Coach Herrmann. "It was awesome to see her serve the ball right where we wanted her to and she did a great job staying positive throughout the day."

Bayer served out the final two points, winning the match with an ace for an 18-16 win.

"I reminded the girls that this match is like the season, it is a marathon and you have to stay positive," commented Coach Herrmann. "The girls kept talking and stay positive. It was a really sweet team win. It wasn't always pretty but the girls did what they needed to do to win."

Ciola picked another 14 kills against Medaille while adding impressive 21 digs. Bayer added 12 kills, three solo blocks, and a block assist. Freshman setter Sydney Riley dished out 34 assists for the Lady Barons.

Franciscan returns home on Monday as the Lady Barons host Baldwin Wallace in a non-conference match at 7pm.