SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Notre Dame College stuck with Shepherd University in a first set loss and tried to rally late with a third set victory, but NDC ended up falling to Shepherd 3-1, on Friday.

The Falcons (7-11, 0-4 MEC) are looking for their first home victory since September 16. The Rams (13-4, 2-2) have won four consecutive games and have won seven of their last 10 contests.

In the first set, both teams were in a seesaw battle. Notre Dame fell behind 7-6 but then battled back and went on a 5-0 run with two kills, a bad set, an attack error and a service ace. After Shepherd tied the game at 17, the game was tied on four separate occasions. SU would take an 18-17 lead and would not relinquish the lead even though NDC put up a tough fight. Shepherd would go on to score two straight points late and win by a score of 27-25.

After an exciting first set, Notre Dame struggled in the second set. NDC did have a 7-6 lead early but then Shepherd scored 11 of the next 12 points to take the lead and expand that advantage to nine points. The Rams would cruise to a 25-12 victory.

During the second set of the game, senior Melissa Maczuzak was recognized after she recorded her eighth kill of the match, breaking the Notre Dame College volleyball career kills record (1,005).

The Falcons played very well in the third set, jumping out to a 14-7 lead. However, Shepherd put together another long run, this time it was 7-1 and pulled within a point of NDC. Notre Dame had to claw their way back into the game after falling behind 19-17, late in the match. The Falcons went on a 6-2 run to end the game and walk away with a 25-22 win.

In the fourth set, SU came out with their foot on the gas pedal. Shepherd climbed out to an 11-3 lead and were down 17-11 later in the match. Notre Dame did come back with a 5-0 run, including three kills by Maczuzak, to make it a 17-16 Shepherd lead. The Rams did not wait long to score nine of the final 10 points in the game to win the set by a score 25-17 and the match, 3-1.

"I thought we had some great hustle plays tonight," NDC head coach Troy Haught said. "We just have to not allow teams to go on three and four point runs on us. I thought we served very well, too."

For NDC, Maczuzak recorded 15 kills, 14 digs and 16.5 points. Sophomore Natalie Spadaro had 16 kills and 19 points to go along with a .314 attack percentage. Sophomore Mary Kate McHugh had 10 kills, 16 kills and 10.5 points.

Christine Jackson and Cambriea Hill had 16.5 points for Shepherd. Jackson had a .455 hit percentage while Imani Major recorded 16 digs and a .667 hit percentage. As a team, the Rams held a .235 hit percentage.

NDC will play Fairmont State University at home tomorrow, October 7. The game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.