Box Score
WHEELING, W.Va. – The Notre Dame Falcons saw their 2016 season come to an end in the first round of the Mountain East Conference tournament on Thursday afternoon, as they fell to Fairmont State in three sets. 

The contest marked Notre Dame's (16-18) first appearance in the MEC tournament since 2013. Fairmont State (20-12) will now face the winner of Charleston and Concord on Friday evening at 5 p.m. 

Fairmont State opened the match with a convincing, 25-16 victory in the opening set. NDC was only down three (16-13), before Fairmont State caught fire, and went on a 9-3 run to close out the set. 

Notre Dame really battled in the second set, as they were down, 24-21, before they ran off four straight points to take a 25-24 lead. The two sides went back and forth, before Fairmont State came away with a 32-30 victory. 

Fairmont State began the third set by scoring five of the first six points, and eventually extended that run to take a 9-3 lead, prompting NDC to take a timeout. Unfortunately for the Falcons, they were not able to trim the deficit to anything less than five points throughout the rest of the set, as they fell, 25-17. 

Melissa Maczuzak had 10 kills to lead the Falcons, and added eight digs to go along with a pair of blocks. Mary Kate McHugh added eight kills and 10 digs. Ali Kaeberlein led NDC with 11 digs, while Morgan Toman paced the Falcons with a trio of service aces to go along with two blocks. Tawny Flareau had 12 assists and five digs, while Paige Staudacher had 13 assists as well as seven digs. 

The loss brings an end to a season that saw the Falcons improve significantly. Their 16 wins were the most since 2009, and quadrupled their win total from the 2015 season.