Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
NORTH CANTON, Ohio – The Notre Dame Falcons began play in the Hall of Fame City Challenge on Friday, and dropped a pair of close contests. 

The Falcons (0-3) opened the day with a four set loss to the host Malone Pioneers (1-1) before dropping their final game of the day, 3-1 to Mercyhurst (2-0). 

The first match of the day featured an exciting opening set, which took some extra time to finish. Malone went on to take the opening set, 27-25, before grabbing a 25-18 victory in the second set. Notre Dame rallied and won the third set, 25-22, before the Pioneers closed out the match with another exciting finish, in a 25-23 victory. 

Melissa Maczuzak led the Falcons with 18 kills against the Pioneers, while adding 16 digs. Mary Kate McHugh had 14 kills to go along with 21 digs. Paige Staudacher led the way with 23 assists while Tawny Flareau added 20. Ali Kaeberlein paced the Falcons in digs with 27. 

Notre Dame was able to jump out to an early 1-0 lead in their second match of the day, as they outlasted the Lakers, 27-25 to take the opening set. However, the Lakers came back to tie the match with a 25-18 victory in the second set. Mercyhurst edged Notre Dame, 25-23 in the third set, before taking the match with a 25-21 victory in the final set. 

Maczuzak once again led the Falcons with a dozen kills in the second match of the day. Flareau was NDC's leader in assists against the Lakers with 28. Maczuzak and Flareau both had 10 digs, while McHugh led the way with 16, and Kaeberlein had 15. 

The Falcons will finish play at the Hall of Fame City Challenge on Saturday, Sept. 3. They'll play Southern Wesleyan University at 11:30 a.m. and they'll finish with Ohio Dominican at 7 p.m.