WHEELING, W.Va. – Notre Dame College put up a tough fight against Wheeling Jesuit University who used a .381 hit percentage and 48 kills to beat NDC, 3-0 on Friday night.

The Falcons (7-9, 0-2 MEC) are now 2-3 in their last five games. With the win, the Cardinals (12-4, 3-0) have now won nine consecutive games and their head coach Christy Benner has earned a 67-0 MEC career record.

The Cardinals, who received 15 votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll, went right after the Falcons in the first two sets. In the first set, Wheeling Jesuit started to pull ahead with a 6-1 run, which included two kills by Abby Strait, to put the Cardinals up 12-5. Both teams went back-and-forth until WJU put the game away with a 25-15 victory.

The Cardinals continued to play well in the second set. NDC tied the game at three with an attack error by Cassie Meyer, but that would be the only time that the Falcons would keep the game that close. The Cardinals had a 4-0 run and three 3-0 runs throughout the rest of the set and won 25-15.

In the third set, Notre Dame fell behind 15-6 but battled back. A 4-0 run made the score 17-12 and, later in the set, a 5-0 run with a kill by freshman Lloyana Hunter, freshman Roberta Jokubauskaite, sophomore Mary Kate McHugh and senior Melissa Maczuzak, cut the deficit to two points, 23-21. Wheeling Jesuit closed the match with the final two points.

"I was really proud of how the team played the third set," head coach Troy Haught said. "We started to serve more aggressively and were able to go on runs, where, as in set one and two, Wheeling would side out us almost every time after we scored. I thought they focused well."

For NDC, Maczuzak had nine kills, eight digs and nine points. She needs 19 kills to break the Notre Dame career record. McHugh recorded nine kills, seven digs and had a hit percentage of .259.

Haley Kramer had 13 kills for WJU and 14 points with a hit percentage of .579. Audrey Francis had 15 digs. The Cardinals had three players who had a hit percentage over .400.
The Falcons will not have much time to think about this game on Friday night, as they will now turn around and play on Saturday morning.
"We have a game plan for tomorrow and just have to stick to it and play as a team," said Haught.

The Falcons will have a quick turnaround as they travel to West Liberty, W.Va. to take on the Hilltoppers, tomorrow. The match is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.