This week: Notre Dame College volleyball takes on the top three teams in the Mountain East Conference this week. At home, they battle Urbana University on October 30, at 6 p.m. The Falcons then travel to West Liberty University on November 2, at 6 p.m. On November 3, NDC wraps up the regular season in No. 18 Wheeling Jesuit University with a 1 p.m. matchup.

Dig Pink Night: NDC will participate in Dig Pink Night on Tuesday against Urbana. The program is selling pink shirts and they have a raffle basket. All proceeds will go to The Gathering Place in Beachwood.

Records: The Falcons are currently 16-13 and hold an 8-5 Mountain East Conference record. Urbana is 20-9 (9-4 MEC) while West Liberty is 21-8 (9-4 MEC). Wheeling Jesuit sits at the top of the division with a record of 28-3, overall, and 13-0 in the MEC.

Coaches Corner: Travis Hinkle is in his first season at Notre Dame and Kara Hellmann is also in her initial season at Urbana. Kayla Mull is in her seventh campaign at the head of West Liberty's program. Christy Benner is now in her 17th season at Wheeling Jesuit and has a record of 561-126, overall, and 105-0 in the MEC.

Rankings: Wheeling Jesuit is ranked 18th in the AVCA Coaches Poll. WJU is second in the Atlantic Regional poll, while West Liberty is 10th in the region.

Series History: The Falcons are 2-14 all-time against Urbana, 5-8 against West Liberty and 0-11 versus Wheeling Jesuit.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame is currently on a five game winning streak, which is their longest winning streak since September of 2016. The Falcons put together a 4-0 week, beating Central State, Shepherd, Fairmont State and then winning the final two sets of a postponed match against UVa-Wise. The four game conference winning streak that they are currently on, ties the longest winning streak while in the MEC. NDC's 16 wins are the most in a season since 2016 and the eight victories in MEC play ties their high water mark, also set in 2016. Mary Kate McHugh grabbed MEC Player of the Week after she had 83 kills, 43 digs and four aces over the four games last week. She is 7th in NCAA Division II with 4.53 kills-per-set and 6th with 453 total kills. McHugh leads the conference, and is seventh in NCAA-II with 4.90 points-per-set. Alexandra Kaeberlein is currently 10th in the country in digs-per-set (6.17) and 6th in digs (142). NDC is second in the conference in digs-per-set at 19.07.

Noting the Blue Knights: Urbana has certainly turned their season around following a 1-4 start. Immediately after that rough start, the Blue Knights rattled off ten straight victories. Last week, they lost to Cedarville by a score of 3-2 in a non-conference match-up and then defeated both Shepherd and Fairmont State by a score of 3-1. Courtney Niesen is 21st in NCAA Division II with 5.82 digs-per-set and she is fifth in the MEC in service aces with 0.40 aces-per-set. Madison Davis is third in the conference with a hit percentage of .322 and she is third, averaging 3.92 kills-per-set. The Blue Knights are second in the MEC at 12.80 assists-per-set.

Noting the Hilltoppers: West Liberty has been a tough team to beat at home this season, as the Hilltoppers are 10-2 at WLU. The Hilltoppers went 3-0 last week, sneaking past Slippery Rock on the road and then sweeping Concord University and UVa-Wise. Madison Clayton is fifth in the conference with a .303 hit percentage. WLU is second in the MEC in opposing hit percentage at .145, assists-per-set at 12.12 and kills-per-set at 12.63.

Noting the Cardinals: Wheeling Jesuit went 4-0 last week, defeating Walsh University, UVa-Wise, Concord and Virginia State. WJU only lost one set last week. If the Cardinals win the final three games, they will continue their streak of 16 regular season MEC wins, a feat they have accomplished every year since 2013. Stephanie Sylvester leads the nation with 13.12 assists-per-set and total assists (1404). Haley Kramer is fourth in Division II with 135 blocks and seventh with a .401 hit percentage. Audrey Francis is first in NCAA-II in digs at 686 and seventh in digs-per-set with 6.41 per set. Cassie Meyer is ranked third in DII because she has 464 digs on the season and 13th with 4.34 kills-per-set. Wheeling Jesuit leads the conference in hitting percentage (.265), assists (1603), assists-per-set (14.84), kills (1660) kills-per-set (15.37), digs (2225) and digs-per-set (20.60).