SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio  --  Notre Dame split a home tri-match with Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) and Cedarville Saturday.  The Falcons defeated Roberts, 3-1, in a morning match and then dropped a hard-fought decision to Cedarville, 3-2, in the afternoon.

Junior setter Kate Verhoff (Elyria, Ohio) led NDC with 33 kills on the day, as Notre Dame (18-13, 6-8 AMC) closed out their American Mideast Conference season.

In the Falcons first match of the day, against Roberts Wesleyan, NDC earned 11 of the final 16 points of the first set to claim a 25-18 win.  In the second set, the Raiders jumped out to an early lead and held on to pick up a 25-22 victory.  Notre Dame bounced back with 25-15 and 25-16 wins to close out the Raiders, 3-1.

Sophomore Katie Barbis (Mentor, Ohio)and Kate Verhoff each collected 16 kills against the Raiders.  Jessica Parks (Jr./Mesquite, Texas) added 12, and Kari Kincannon (Fr./LaGrange, Ohio) chipped in 10.  Parks had a match-high 15 digs, and Barbis and Verhoff each had 20 points in the match.  Notre Dame had 60 kills and out-hit Roberts, .338 to .223.  The Falcons also garnered 17 blocks, the most they've had in a match since Aug. 22 (20 vs. Trinity International-Ill.).   

RWC was led by senior Brandi Naish (Lockport, N.Y.) – she had a team high 16 kills and 2.5 blocks.

Notre Dame's victory was their third straight over Roberts, which now leads the all-time series between the two programs, 12-4.  The Raiders (16-16, 5-6) came into the day in 10th place in the AMC; in their match against Cedarville, RWC was defeated, 3-0.

In the Falcons' second match, against Cedarville, NDC missed a golden opportunity to pick up a hard-fought win in the first set.  The Falcons held a 24-22 lead before the Lady Jackets rattled off four straight points for a 26-24 win.

The Lady Jackets also came back from a late deficit in the second set. Notre Dame led 22-20, before CU earned six of the next eight points for another 26-24 win. 

Despite dropping two such close sets to start the match, Notre Dame was able to rally in the third set with a 25-18 victory and in the fourth set with a 25-15 win.

In the fifth and deciding set, Cedarville opened an early 10-4 lead and hung on to claim a 15-11 victory and the 3-2 win in the match.

"That was a great match," said head coach Mark Ridley. "Cedarville is a good and well-coached team. I'm proud of the way the girls battled back after those first two sets."

Kate Verhoff and Kari Kincannon each had 17 kills in the match, to pace the Falcons. Verhoff added 37 assists. Jessica Parks garnered 15 kills and 9 digs.

Sophomore Kylee Husak (Mount Vernon, Ill.) led the Lady Jackets, with a match-high 26 kills on the strength of a .523 hitting percentage. Senior Maija Hampton (Cincinnati, Ohio) added 15 kills and a match-high 21 digs. The victory for Cedarville (19-10, 10-4) is their 12th in their last 15 matches.

With AMC results from earlier in the week, Notre Dame was knocked out of a potential conference postseason berth.  For the Falcons, that ends a four-year streak of qualifying for AMC and/or NAIA regional postseason play.  It also meant that Saturday's home tri-match closed out 2008 play against in-circuit foes.

Notre Dame will close out their season Tuesday, Nov. 4, when they host Lake Erie in a con-conference match-up.  First serve against the Storm is slated for 7 p.m.  The match will be the second this season between Notre Dame and Lake Erie; NDC defeated LEC, 3-0, back on Sept. 3.

NOTES FROM THE NEST...    
 
TROUBLE AT HOME:   With their match-two loss to Cedarville, the Falcons ensured a 2008 home record under .500 for the first time since 2003.  Heading into their 2008 home finale on Tuesday, Notre Dame owns a 2-4 record at Murphy Gymnasium.

KATIE WITH A 'K':  In NDC's win over Roberts, Katie Barbis' 16 kills were the most she's had in a match since Aug. 30 (18 vs. Holy Family-Pa.).  That match-one total put Barbis at 500 kills for her career (she would have nine more kills in the Falcons' loss to Cedarville).  For the season, the second-year Falcon now has 264 kills and 272 digs.

IRON WOMAN:  Freshman Kari Kincannon played in all nine sets in Notre Dame's two matches on Saturday.  Through 30 matches, Kincannon is the only Falcon to have played in all of the team's 109 sets.  For the season, Kincannon has a team-high 292 kills.  The 6-foot freshman came into Saturday ranked 22nd in the nation in hitting percentage.  Through Saturday, she has a mark of .357.

AGENT 99:  With Saturday's split, Mark Ridley moved to within one win of 100 for his Notre Dame career.  Heading into the final match of the 2008 season, Ridley is 99-113.  The Falcons' bench boss is the program's all-time leader, both in terms of wins (99) and winning percentage (.467). … With 18 victories thus far in 2008, NDC is one win away from tying their second-best win total for a season; the Falcons also won 19 matches for Ridley in 2004.