Franciscan University Barons Athletics

Franciscan 2, Denison 3

How It Happened 
Franciscan made the trip to Denison Friday afternoon, competing against the hosts and fellow visitor Washington and Lee. For the first match of the day, the Barons faced off against Denison. A five-set thriller ensued with the hosts barely squeaking out the win.

Franciscan had a great opening to the first set, building a 5-1 lead early on. Denison closed the gap eventually, tying it at 9 before taking a 23-19 lead. The Barons then won the next six points, with kills by Logan Hickey, Caroline Linklater, and Sarah Clyde to win the first set. 

In the second set, the scoring again went back and forth. The lead was never larger than by four points, and there were five ties. Despite this, the Barons never led, and Denison scored the final three points following a 22-22 tie to level the match up. In set three, kills by Anna Guard, Linklater, and Logan Hickey put the visitors up 14-7, however, the hosts went on a 18-8 run to close the set and win it 25-22.

On the brink of losing in set four, crucial kills by Guard and Therese Heisler broke a 19-19 tie to record a 25-21 set victory to force a game-deciding fifth set. After the Barons got up 13-11, Denison scored three points to set up match point. Franciscan scored three of the next four points to reach match point themselves, but couldn't notch the final point. The Barons had two more chances to win, but Denison scored three straight points to go down 18-17 to win 20-18.
 
Inside the Numbers 
- Logan Hickey led the Barons with 25 kills, while Anna Guard had 20.
- Kaitlan Hickey additionally had 38 digs, while Guard had 22.
- There were a total of 29 attacks from Linklater.
- Reese Anderson had a .333 attack percentage to lead the Barons.

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Franciscan 0, Washington and Lee 3

How It Happened 
After the long opening match, the Barons went on to face the Washington and Lee Generals.

Action in the first set was back and forth, with kills by Clyde and Heisler pacing the Barons throughout. After a 12-12 tie, the Generals established control, never losing the lead, and winning the set 25-19. 

In set two, Franciscan succumbed to a 12-4 deficit. The Barons got it to within four at 16-12, but the Generals scored 13 of the next 16 points to take a 2-0 set lead. In set 3, an early lead at 4-1 quickly went away as the Generals went on a 11-3 run. After a block by Logan Hickey and Tessa Miller cut the Barons' deficit to three, the opposition scored 12 of the final 15 points to win 25-13.
 
Inside the Numbers 
- Each team had three blocks and two aces. 
- Anderson led the Barons in assists with 12.

Up Next
Franciscan women's volleyball travels to Pittsburgh Wednesday to play Carlow University at 6 PM, the team's final match of its four-match road trip before returning home next Saturday for a tri-match.

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