WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Notre Dame College put together impressive numbers, including 105 digs and seven aces, but West Liberty University came out on top by a score of 3-1, on Friday night.

Notre Dame (16-15, 8-7 MEC) had an impressive start to the first set, against the second place team in the Mountain East Conference. Freshman Amelia Kaeberlein took the first serve and, with help from her teammates, led NDC to a 12-2 advantage. NDC had eight kills, as a team, and Kaeberlein added two aces during the early run.

Not much later in the set, West Liberty (22-9, 10-5 MEC) used a 10-3 run to close the gap to three points, 17-14. The Hilltoppers closed out the set with eight straight points and won, 26-24.

After an ace by Katie Richardson, the Falcons took a comfortable 16-10 lead in the second set. Later in the set, NDC increased their lead to 22-12 following an ace by junior Mary Kate McHugh. WLU did not mount a comeback and Notre Dame evened the match with a 25-17 victory.

The third set was tough for the Falcons, as West Liberty jumped out to a big lead. Although NDC made the set close, they never took the lead and fell, 25-16.

In the fourth set, Notre Dame held an 8-3 lead, but then West Liberty fought back to tie the game at nine. West Liberty took the lead for good when they went ahead 13-12, but the Falcons never allowed the WLU lead to expand past four points. The Hilltoppers closed out the set, and the match, with a 25-22 win.

For the Falcons, McHugh had a season-high three aces, to go along with 21 kills and 19 digs. Richardson and Amelia Kaeberlein each had two aces, a season-high for Kaeberlein. Junior Paige Staudacher gave the Falcons 39 assists and a season-high 16 digs. On the defensive side, the Falcons had five players with double-digit digs. Junior Alexandra Kaeberlein led the way with 27 and sophomore Roberta Jokubauskaite went up for seven blocks. The Falcons totaled 105 digs, which is not only the most they have had this season, but also puts the team in a tie for second most digs in a four set match in NDC history.

West Liberty had three players reach double-digits in kills and two players had at least 24 assists. Raimey Benson led the way with 13 kills and Kendall Souder added 27 assists. Mackenzie Sims had 33 digs while Stephanie Leonard gave the Hilltoppers seven blocks.

Notre Dame will end their regular season tomorrow, when they travel to play No. 18 Wheeling Jesuit University. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.