SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons lost a hard fought battle in the final home match of the season at Murphy Gymnasium on Tuesday night, falling to Malone, 3-0. (Box)

The loss for the Falcons (9-19) marked their sixth in a row.  Malone (26-9) has won five matches in a row, and seven out of their last eight.

The Falcons were able to hang tough with the Pioneers for the first half of the opening set.  Notre Dame held a 10-9 lead, before the Pioneers scored the next six points to take a 15-10 advantage and never looked back.  Malone led by as many as six, and won the opening set, 25-20.

Malone established an early lead in the second set, by scoring four out of the first five points.  Notre Dame did rally back, to tie the set at 4-4, before the Pioneers went on a 5-0 run, and held a comfortable lead through the rest of the set, which they won, 25-17. 

In the third match, the Falcons stood toe-to-toe once again with the Pioneers, and were tied at 10-10, until Malone pulled away by going on a 7-1 run, creating a deficit that the Falcons could not erase, as they lost the final set, 25-17.

In her final match at Murphy Gymnasium, Kari KINCANNON paced the Falcons with 10 kills on the night, while fellow senior Lauren TURNER finished with eight.  Turner also had 13 digs.  Kelsey SWORDS led Notre Dame with 14 digs, while Chandler MASS delivered 27 assists. 

The Falcons will wrap up their regular season at a tri-match, hosted by Ursuline on Saturday, Nov. 5.   Their first match will take place at 11:00 a.m. against Ursuline, and the Falcons will face Houghton (N.Y.) at 1:00 p.m.