SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons erased a 2-0 deficit on Tuesday evening at Murphy Gymnasium, but eventually fell in five sets to the Lake Erie Storm. (Box)

The Falcons (2-10) have now lost three straight since winning two in a row at the Grand Rapids Classic, while Lake Erie (2-5) a five game slide with their victory on Tuesday night.    

The Storm took the opening set, 25-16, which marked the first time they'd done that since their third contest of the season against West Virginia State back on Sept. 8.  They scored the first two points of the set and never trailed after taking a commanding, 10-4 advantage.

They capitalized on that momentum quickly, scoring 10 out of the first 12 points in the second set.  Lake Erie had a big lead, up 23-12, before the Falcons went on a run, closing the gap to five (23-18), but the Storm nullified that by scoring the final two points in a 25-19 victory in the second set. 

Notre Dame kept the match alive with a 25-17 victory in the third set.  The two teams went back and forth for the first half of the match.  The Falcons had a 12-11 lead, and then went on an 11-4 run to pull away. 

The fourth set included a number of runs on both sides.  The Falcons had a 5-3 advantage early on, and then scored eight out of the next 10 points, to take a commanding 13-5 advantage.  However, Lake Erie came storming back, and narrowed the deficit to two (20-18) but the Falcons fought off the late surge with a 25-21 decision to force the fifth set.

While the Falcons got out to a great start in the final set, taking a 4-1 lead early on, the Storm rallied and came back.  The contest was tied at 10-10, when Lake Erie scored three consecutive points, and never looked back, taking the set, and the match, 15-12. 

Magenta Tygret paced the Falcons offensively with 20 kills, and hit .306 on the night, while Brianne Schmansky added 11 kills, and hit .391.  Chandler Mass had 43 assists to go along with five blocks, including four assists.  Tygret also led the way for NDC defensively with 18 digs.  Both Angela Bush and Katie Sullivan added five solo blocks. 

The Falcons are back in action again on Friday, Sept. 21, when they play host to Davis & Elkins.  The contest is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at Murphy Gymnasium.