BY ERIN MADDEN
STAFF WRITER
The Lady Barons played a strong overall home match against conference opponent University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, winning in straight sets 25-10, 25-20 and 25-21.
For the second consecutive match, the Lady Barons started with a service ace from sophomore setter Rachel Potopa. The team had a successful serving night with aces from several different players, finishing with nine aces on the night.
“We have several servers that can serve really nice short balls and really hard deep balls,” Head Coach Kelly Herrmann said. “When you mix it up, you can keep the other team off balance, limiting their offense and setting up your defense.”
Herrmann was also able to make adjustments with her middle hitters tonight, playing freshman middle hitter Maria Hruby in place of an injured sophomore Ellie Waldsmith. Hruby is second in the conference with 0.71 blocks per set. Hruby was able to step up her offense to match her blocking ability, displaying a lot of power in her attacks and finishing with a season-high of nine kills.
“When each player gets their chance, they have to play with confidence,” Herrmann said. Maria is really starting to relax now. It’s really nice to have a player of Maria’s caliber be able to step in like that.”
The Lady Barons had a strong offensive night overall, finishing with one of their best hitting percentages of the season. Junior outside hitter Dani Link led the team with 10 kills, and senior setter/right side hitter Amy O’Keefe added eight kills of her own.
With this win, the Lady Barons move into sole possession of second place in the AMCC with three conference matches remaining. Herrmann said that there were still a lot of improvements to be made with some stronger conference opponents looming.
“I think that we struggled a little bit in serve receive, so we will work on that,” Herrmann said. “We are usually good at that, but sometimes you just have those moments. The nice thing is having people come in off the bench to help.”
The Lady Barons’ next home match will be against conference opponent Mount Aloysius College at home on October 29 at 7 p.m.