This week: Notre Dame College volleyball will have their work cut out for them as they face four teams this week. They will stay home to face Central State University on October 23 at 6 p.m., Shepherd University on October 25 at 7 p.m. and Fairmont State University on October 26 at 7 p.m. They will then travel to West Liberty University to take on the University of Virginia's College at Wise on October 27 at 11 a.m.

Matchup with UVa-Wise: The game on October 27 with UVa-Wise will resume in the third set with Notre Dame representing the home team, after the match was postponed on October 6.

Records: The Falcons are currently 12-13 and hold a 5-5 Mountain East Conference record. Central State has a record of 7-21 while Shepherd is 19-6 (8-3 MEC). Fairmont State is 11-13, overall, and 5-6 in the MEC and UVa-Wise is 5-19 and 2-8 in the MEC.

Coaches Corner: Travis Hinkle is in his first season at Notre Dame and Danielle Benson-Robinson is in her first season as the head coach at CSU. Alex Hoekstra, currently in his fourth season at Shepherd, holds a record of 70-50 (33-25 MEC). Courtney Materazzi is in her fifth season at the helm of Fairmont State and has a record of 102-53. Kristen Salyer is in her seventh season at UVa-Wise and coached the Cavaliers to a 6-24 record (2-14 MEC) in 2017.

Rankings: None of these teams are ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll.

Series History: The Falcons are 4-0 versus Central State, but they have not played the Marauders since 2012. Notre Dame is 3-9 against Shepherd since the series began in 2012 and against FSU, Notre Dame is 2-13 since 2011. Since 2013, NDC is 3-2 when going against Virginia-Wise.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame put together a 1-2 record last week, with their win coming against West Virginia State, who had five MEC wins and was one of only two programs in the conference with 20 wins. NDC is now 6-4 in their previous ten games. Alexandra Kaeberlein totaled 69 digs over the past week. She broke a program record with 37 digs against West Virginia State on October 20. That number also was a season-high in the conference. She is second in the conference with 6.41 digs-per-set. Mary Kate McHugh had 67 kills and 44 digs over the past week. McHugh is second in the conference with 4.27 kills-per-set and points with 4.64 per-set. Paige Staudacher is third in the MEC with 9.26 assists-per-set while Roberta Jokubauskaite is second with 1.31 blocks-per-set. NDC's defense has come through this season and is ranked third in the MEC in terms of lowest opponent hitting percentage (.147) and Notre Dame totals an average of 19.60 dig-per-game, which ranks second.

Noting the Marauders: Central State played just one game last week, beating the University of Cincinnati-Clermont, 3-1, on Wednesday. The Marauders started the season 2-16 before winning five of their next 10 matches. Deja Clark leads CSU in points with 294, kills with 240, digs with 198 and is second in blocks with 47. Akaila Howard has 448 assists this season. Central State tied a season-high in assists (48) and posted the second highest number of total blocks (11.5) against UC-Clermont.

Noting the Rams: Shepherd lost to No. 20 Wheeling Jesuit last Friday, which snapped a 10 game winning streak. SU is 15-5 in their last 20 matches. The Rams are strong at home and on the road, posting a record of 5-1 in Shepherd and 7-2 when traveling. Nicole Murray is second in the conference with an average hit percentage of .370 while Peyton Lindblad is third with 3.81 kills-per-set. Becca Kern is fourth in the MEC with 9.20 assists-per-set and second with 0.42 aces-per-set. SU is first in the Mountain East Conference with 1.84 aces-per-set, third with a hit percentage of .214 and they are ranked second with 12.69 kills-per-set. Shepherd limits opponents to just 1.58 blocks-per-set, which is best in the conference.

Noting the Fighting Falcons: Fairmont State also fell to WJU last Saturday. But, FSU has turned their season around with a seven game winning streak, including five conference games, prior to the loss to the Cardinals. Emma Mobley has 206 kills, 251.5 points and 24 aces this season. Julia DiPaola has 302 digs and 3.32 per set. Taylor Wisniewski leads the conference with 1.35 blocks-per-set. As a team, the Fighting Falcons are first in the Mountain East as they post 2.35 blocks-per-set.

Noting the Cavaliers: Virginia-Wise went 1-1 last week. They got swept by West Virginia Wesleyan but then swept Glenville State. The Cavaliers are 2-10 over their last 12 games. Madelyn Lawrence leads the team with 183 kills, a hit percentage of .274 and 225.5 points. Morgan Milligan leads the Cavs with 349 digs while Brooke Abbott has 54 blocks.