PAINESVILLE, Ohio – Notre Dame College split their two games in a tri-match held on the campus of Lake Erie College, on Tuesday evening. In the first game, the Falcons swept Salem University but NDC was swept by Lake Erie in the second contest.

Salem (7-22) stuck with the Falcons early in the first set of game one. The Tigers led 9-7 before NDC put three consecutive points on the board to go up 10-9. After that point, SU could only tie the game twice and did not regain the lead. Notre Dame (9-11) went on to win the set 25-18.

"They (Salem) came out and they started the match very well," said head coach Travis Hinkle. "They were trading points with us and we finally got back to our side and did what we needed to do."

After that, the Falcons found their groove, scoring 13 of the first 16 points in the second set. NDC was certainly helped by seven attack errors by Salem on the way to their 13-3 lead.

NDC went on a 7-1 run to end the game and win 25-13. The winning point was scored on an ace by junior Mary Kate McHugh. In all three sets of the first match, NDC scored a clutch ace to take either the 24th or the 25th point.

Notre Dame went in front 5-0 to begin the third set and then coasted to a 25-9 set victory, putting the last seven points on the board. The 3-0 match win represents NDC's second sweep of Salem this season and also capped a three game winning streak.

"Salem is a team that we play every year and we saw them earlier in the season, but they always improve so we knew they would be better… When we play teams like Salem, who are more unexpected, you have to just play your game and learn from those points and build from that. That's what we ended up doing and that's why we did so well finishing, because we played our game," Hinkle said.

For NDC, McHugh led the team with 13 kills and she had 10 digs. Junior Erin Daugherty had nine kills, a hit percentage of .538 and two aces, while junior Paige Staudacher recorded 27 assists and two aces. Junior Alexandra Kaeberlein led the team with 16 digs. The Falcons had a team hit percentage of .314, their highest of the season. NDC also had 14 different players touch the court.

"I liked how I could play everybody, a lot," Hinkle mentioned. "Everyone was in the rotation, everyone scored points and everyone was there for each other. Our starters, when they weren't in, were the biggest fans of the players on the court. Our players are always supportive and it was nice to see the energy and wanting them to succeed and that's something that we grow on."

Liane Moser and Nina Isaac each had six kills while Cassidy Pluta added 15 assists for Salem. Alaina Weltz helped defensively with 10 digs.

Game two was a struggle against the host Lake Erie College (14-5), who won both of their games in the tri-match. The Falcons lost the first two sets by a score of 25-18.

NDC nearly grabbed a victory in the third set. The Falcons and the Storm had four lead changes before the 15th point was scored. Later in the set, Notre Dame scored three points in a row to tie the set at 20. However, LEC scored five of the final six points to take a 25-21 set win.

"Lake Erie is a great team," Hinkle explained. "They do everything very well. We have to adjust when we play a team that is very different like Salem is from Lake Erie and we have to be ready to come out. We really saw what we really need to improve on, especially going into the second half of the conference schedule. But the girls understand, they know what we have to work on."

McHugh had 14 kills, 11 digs and two aces for NDC while Staudacher had 24 assists. Al. Kaeberlein posted 29 digs in the match and she now has over 1500 digs in her career. She is just the third athlete in NDC volleyball program history with that number.

Crystal Kendroske recorded 15 kills and 13 digs for Lake Erie. Alexis Thomas led the team with 38 assists. Morgan Briggs added 20 digs and Courtney Rosebrook had six blocks.

Notre Dame will travel to West Virginia Wesleyan to play the Bobcats on October 11. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.