Franciscan 8, Waynesburg 1

Doubles
#1's-Travis Mistry and Aidan Palladino- The top pair won their doubles pairing in a straight set. Mistry played hyper-aggressive in front of the net. The YellowJackets struggled to get any volley past him or return his shots. I had the chance to catch up with the top pair after their match and hear their thoughts on their performances, "Mistry-This was one fo the best matches we have played together this year. We were both on at the net and not missing much. Serves and volleys were on point. Aidan-We've been practicing volleys at targets and that work really paid off. It was a good match. There was great comradery and teamwork.

#2's-Samuel Sabol and Benjamin Sabol- The twins faced an early deficit of 1-2, but powered back to win 8-5. The chemistry and movement of the brother's made it difficult for their opponents to find a shot that could get passed them.

#3's-James Scanlon and Callahan Hecton- The #3 pairings were the first to finish. If you got distracted and watched either the #1, #2, or JV matches you came back to these two and saw the score went from 1-0 to 7-0. One quick volley and then 8-0. A solid performance from the veteran Scanlon and his rookie teammate Hecton.

Going into Singles play the Barons were leading 3-0 team play.

Singles
Travis Mistry and Aidan Palladino quickly finished their singles matches. Mistry in straight sets and Palladino dropping only one point. Their victories locked in the team win with 5 points. Benjamin Sabol, Hecton, and Scanlon all defeated their opponents in two sets, but Samuel Sabol was in a dogfight. Sam took the first set 6-4, had a 4-3 lead in the second set, but allowed his opponent to take a lead. It took some incredible play for Sabol to get the point he needed and force a tiebreak. In the first to 7 tiebreak to decide the winner of the second set, Sabol took the lead then seceded that lead after multiple kill shots that either went into the net or sailed long into the fence. His opponent squeaked the tiebreak out and forced the third set first to 10 tiebreak. The two went back-and-forth. Coach Greve made multiple attempts to talk to his athlete, calm him down, and focus him on what was holding him back. Waynesburg's Saliba would just not give in. The two found themselves in familiar territory at 9-9 in the third set. Sabol made an error at the net that gave Saliba a 10-9 lead. The next volley ended in a questionable out call that gave Saliba the 11th point and a 2-point lead to end the third tiebreak set and claim the match. His win was the only Waynesburg win on the day.


Next Up
Franciscan resumes PAC play at Washington & Jefferson on Saturday at 1 pm. The Barons are looking to extend their recent success against the Presidents, as they have won their last five meetings. A win would go a long way to help the Barons secure another trip into the postseason, as the top six teams in the standings will make the conference tournament. 

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