Box Score ATHENS, W.Va. – The Notre Dame Falcons rallied from a two-set deficit on Friday evening, but their comeback efforts fell just short in a five-set loss to the Concord Mountain Lions.
The Falcons (5-12, 3-4) have now lost five of their last six, while the win for Concord (10-9, 2-5) was their second in a row, and second in MEC action.
The opening set was controlled by Concord from the beginning. The Mountain Lions scored five out of the first six points, and never seized control. As the match progressed, the Falcons would get no closer than five points, as Concord took the first set, 25-15.
Notre Dame was much better in the second set, but still came out on the wrong end of the decision. Things started well for Notre Dame, as they scored the first two points of the set and remained close to Concord through most of it. Notre Dame was down, 21-19, when Concord turned it on and scored four of the final five points to win, 25-20.
The third set featured an incredible back and forth battle with momentum shifting several times in each direction. Ahead by one (13-12), Notre Dame went on a 5-1 run, which was kick started by kills from
Melissa Maczuzak and
Lindsay Shirilla to take an 18-13 advantage. Concord battled back, and took a 23-22 advantage before the Falcons caught fire, and scored four of the final five points to take the set, 26-24, closing out the set with a service ace from
Emily Ball.
Notre Dame rallied again in the fourth set to tie the match. They fell behind early, 3-1 but ran neck-and-neck with the Mountain Lions for most of the set, with neither side managing to take a lead larger than four. The Falcons were down, 23-22, and ran off three straight points to end the match with a 25-23.
In the final set, the two teams were engaged in an incredible battle that came down to the wire. The two teams were tied at 9-9, when Concord went on a 4-1 run to take a 13-10 advantage, and outlasted NDC, 15-13.
Shirilla paced the Falcons offensively, with 17 kills on the evening.
Shelby Regiec added 29 assists while
Tawny Flareau added 16.
Tawnia Almaraz led the Falcons with 17 digs and Regiec contributed with 10. Shea Thayer added three blocks.
The Falcons are in action again on Saturday, Oct. 11, when they head to Wise, Va., to take on Virginia-Wise in more Mountain East Conference action. The contest is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.
