Box Score SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Notre Dame Falcons battled the Urbana Blue Knights in a tightly contested five set match, but eventually fell on Tuesday evening at Murphy Gymnasium.
Notre Dame (4-11, 2-3 MEC) has now lost four in a row, while Urbana (6-7, 4-1) has now won five out of their last six contests.
The first set saw both teams trade blows, especially in the latter portion of the set. Notre Dame was in the driver's seat, ahead 22-18, before Urbana called a timeout, and mounted a comeback, scoring four straight points to tie the set. The two teams went back-and-forth for the remainder of the set, but Urbana pulled it out, 28-26.
Notre Dame tied the match with a narrow victory in the second set. The Falcons trailed early, 3-0, but with the set tied 7-7, and
Morgan Toman serving, the Falcons used an 8-0 run to create some separation. Urbana eventually battled back, and tied the set at 22-22, but Notre Dame halted the rally by scoring the final three points to take a 25-22 victory.
The roles were reversed in the third set. Notre Dame fell behind, 20-13, before they came roaring back. The Falcons narrowed the deficit to four (22-18), and with
Tawny Flareau serving, the Falcons ran off six straight points to take a 24-22 lead, but the Blue Knights would not be denied, as they came from behind to finish off a 27-25 victory to take the set.
Modest runs were exchanged by both sides in the early stages of the fourth set, and the two teams were not able to create much separation. The Falcons, led, 20-19, before they went on a tear and closed out the fourth set on a 5-1 run to take the set, 25-20.
Neither team was able to take a sizeable advantage early on in the final set. Urbana led, 4-3, before scoring five of the next seven points to take a 9-5 advantage, and never looked back. The Blue Knights led, 11-8, and scored four of the final six points to close out the match with a 15-10 victory.
Lindsay Shirilla led the way for the Falcons with 22 kills on the night, while
Brooke Mako added 11.
Shelby Regiec added 31 assists while Flareau contributed with 22.
Tawnia Almaraz paced the NDC defense with 14 digs, and
Angela Bush had three solo blocks.
The Falcons are in action again on Friday, Oct. 3, when they play host to West Virginia State at Murphy Gymnasium for another MEC tilt. The contest is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
