SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons lost their sixth consecutive home match on Tuesday evening at Murphy Gymnasium, falling to Mercyhurst, 3-0. (Box)

The Falcons (4-7) have now lost three matches in a row, since their three game winning streak was snapped. Mercyhurst (8-6), has now won three out of their last four matches.

Notre Dame fell behind early in the opening set, falling into an early 4-1 hole. The Falcons trailed by as many as five (17-12). After a timeout, NDC rallied and scored the game's next five points to tie the game at 17-17. The Falcons took their first lead after gaining a 20-19 advantage. The game was tied at 21-21, when the Lakers outscored the Falcons 4-2 to take the first match, 25-23.

The Lakers established control early on in the second set, taking a commanding 6-1 lead. As they had already done in the first set, Notre Dame came from behind to make things interesting. The Falcons made the five point deficit disappear, and tied the second set at 8-8, and eventually took a 12-11 lead.

Mercyhurst responded by going on a tear with an incredible 12-2 run, taking a 23-14 lead, and took the second set by a score of 25-15.

Notre Dame was able to draw first blood in what turned out to be the final set of the match. NDC had the lead for the first half of the match, taking a 14-10 lead. After a Mercyhurst timeout, the Lakers scored four straight points, took seven of the game's next nine points to take the lead, and never looked back.

The Lakers outhit the Falcons .424 to .132 on the night, and they had 41 assists to Notre Dame's 14.

Leading the way for NDC offensively were both Kari KINCANNON, who had a team best, five kills on the night, and Chandler MASS who delivered a team high, 14 assists. Kelsey SWORDS led Notre Dame defensively with eight digs and Lauren TURNER had seven.

The Falcons will be in action again on Friday, Sept. 23, when they travel to Ohio Valley (W.Va.) for their final road tilt this month. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.