STEUBENVILLE – The Franciscan volleyball team hit a season hit .226 as a team and defeated Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent, Pitt.-Greensburg, 3-1, Wednesday night.

The Lady Barons (2-15, 1-2 AMCC) defeated the Bobcats (0-16, 0-1 AMCC) in four sets by scores of 25-15, 25-17, 19-25, 25-21.

Leading the attack for Franciscan was senior captain Maria Ciola (Burk, VA/Mother of Divine Grace). Ciola finished the four-set match with 14 kills and a pair of blocks while posting nine digs. Freshman Emma Birong (Carrollton, OH/Carrollton) added 10 kills to go with a block assist and a solo block for the Lady Barons. Freshman setter Emily Nutter (Newark, OH/Newark Catholic) had an impressive day with a career-best 33 assists and 13 digs.

"Emily, our freshman setter, is doing good a job," remarked head coach Kelly Herrmann. "She is such a good girl. She is so hardworking and coachable, but as a freshman, it is a lot of pressure."

The Lady Barons got off to a hot start in the first set as they took a 7-3 lead thanks to the strong serving from sophomore Lauren Betar (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) and three kills from Ciola. The Bobcats battled back and trimmed the lead down to 10-9 but Franciscan kept UPG at bay and eventually took an 18-11 lead. Freshman Maria Bosco (Cranberry Twp., PA/Quigley Catholic) put an exclamation point on the first set win with a kill to give Franciscan the 25-15 win.

The second set began much tighter and the two teams were tied 13-13 midway through the game. Franciscan eventually used a 9-2 run to take the lead, 22-15, again punctuated by a Bosco kill. The Lady Barons closed out the set with a 3-2 run to win the second set 25-17 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Bobcats battled back in the third set and took a 10-9 lead and never let the lead go for the rest of game. Greensburg eventually won the set, 25-19, to cut the Lady Baron match lead to 2-1.

Franciscan got out of the gate quickly in the fourth set and took a 10-5 lead quickly but the Bobcats trimmed the lead back down to 12-11. Franciscan kept battling pushing forward to take a 23-18 lead thanks to a kill from Birong. After the Lady Barons earned their first match points at 24-19, the Bobcats scored two straight points and were threatening but Ciola ended the match with her 14th kill of the match.

"I am just so proud of these girls as they just kept battling tonight," continued Coach Herrmann. "We didn't play our best volleyball and had a lot of inconsistencies, but we stayed positive and kept fighting. We have to keep getting better and continue to work towards getting into the conference tournament and to play our best volleyball in late October."
The Lady Barons will travel to Pitt.-Bradford on Saturday to take on the Panthers and St. John Fisher in a tri-match beginning at 1:00 pm.