SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Notre Dame College defeated Glenville State College 3-1 in four sets as sophomore Natalie Spadaro broke an NDC program record for attack percentage.

The Falcons (11-13, 3-5 MEC) have now won four of their last five games and improve to 5-1 all-time against GSC. The Pioneers (0-17, 0-8) have lost their first ten road games this season and have won six sets away from home.

The Falcons won the first set, but Glenville State stayed close to NDC throughout the game. The set was tied at seven and the Pioneers cut the deficit to one point, 11-10, following an attack error. Notre Dame increased their lead to six (21-15) after a GSC attack error. The Falcons went on to win the set, 25-20.

Glenville State controlled the second set as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead and gave up the lead only once in the game. The Falcons only lead was 3-2, however, they made it interesting late in the game as they came back from a 22-19 deficit to tie the game at 24. The Pioneers would put the next two points on the board to win the set, 26-24.
The third set was dominated by the Falcons after GSC grabbed the first point. NDC went on a 10-1 run, beginning their dominance throughout the set. Notre Dame led 14-3 at one points and cruised to a 25-10 victory.

In the fourth set, the two teams went back-and-forth several times, and the game was tied six times before either team reached 10 points. The Falcons would go on a short run and grabbed one of the largest leads of the set, 12-8. The closest Glenville State could get was one point, 14-13, before NDC increased their lead again. NDC scored the final four points and won the set 25-18.

"Overall, I thought we played really well. We stuck to our game plan," head coach Troy Haught said. "I didn't think we served as aggressively as we typically do and I think that allowed Glenville State to stay in a couple of sets. But I thought offensively all of the front row players did a nice job and when we had to make the switch with liberos, because Ali (Kaeberlein) is a little injured right now, I thought Riley Coleman came in and played phenomenal stepping into that role. Other than the set that we lost, I thought we did a nice job of going on three to five point runs which is something that we have been working on in practice."

For Notre Dame, Spadaro had 24 kills, 26 points and an attack percentage of .759, which broke the single game record in Notre Dame history. She also combined for 18 kills on 19 attack attempts in the three sets that NDC won. Senior Melissa Maczuzak recorded 20 kills and 21 points while sophomore Mary Kate McHugh added 12 kills, 10 digs and 16 points. Sophomore Paige Staudacher had 45 assists. The Falcons had an attack percentage of .448, as a team, which was their highest percentage since 2012.

"Natalie (Spadaro) played phenomenal tonight," Haught said. "This was one of Natalie's best games. When you look at our stats, it's usually Mel (Maczuzak) or Mary Kate (McHugh). Once we get (Spadaro) going, it allows Mary Kate and her to be a one-two punch and I think that will be the turnaround for us. She stuck to the game plan. We told her to keep swinging and it was one of her best performances. I was very proud of her."

"Coach wanted people to step up," Spadaro mentioned. "I didn't play well the first half of the season and I finally stepped up."

Bailey Brawner had 13 kills, 15 digs and 14 points for the Pioneers. Allison Parski and Madison Gargus each had 21 assists.

Spadaro knows where the team's focus is right now.

"I think we're all stepping up, realizing that we have to win in order to go to the conference tournament and that was our main goal in the beginning of the season. I think we're all realizing that we really have to step up in order to get there," she said.

The Falcons will take on West Virginia Wesleyan College at home tomorrow, October 21. The match is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.