CANTON, Ohio – On the first day of the Hall of Fame City Challenge, Notre Dame College used 39 kills and five aces to sweep the host team, Malone University, but then lost 3-1 in a matchup with Seton Hill University on Friday afternoon.

On Friday morning, the Falcons used a "complete team effort" and took advantage of Malone's mistakes. In the first set, NDC put the first five points on the scoreboard, including two aces by freshman Amelia Kaeberlein. They would push the advantage to 9-1 before MU called a timeout.

The Pioneers did come back and made the set very close, taking their first lead of the set at 26-25. The Falcons fought back, tying the game at 26 and then rattling off the next two points for a 28-26 victory. On the 3-0 run to win the set, junior Paige Staudacher had three assists and junior Mary Kate McHugh had two kills.

Malone grabbed an early lead in the second set, but Notre Dame came back. At one point, the Falcons led 12-7 with five of NDC's points coming via Malone errors or a bad set.

MU tied the set at 25, but ultimately, Notre Dame received a kill from junior Erin Daugherty and an attack error by the Pioneers to take the set 27-25.

Then in the third set, the Falcons were on a 3-0 run before McHugh had back-to-back aces, giving the Falcons five straight points and a lead of 10-4. An attack error ended the set with the Falcons on top, 25-22. The sweep represented the first win in program history over Malone.

NDC had an attack percentage of 12.5-percent, had 70 digs defensively and 37 assists. McHugh had 13 kills and 16 points, overall, with two aces. Staudacher added 32 assists. On the defensive side, junior Alexandra Kaeberlein gave NDC 22 digs while McHugh was second on the team with 14 digs.

Malone held an attack percentage of 21.7-percent, but were hurt by nine service errors and five return errors. Mallory Adams led the Pioneers by converting 12 kills and Maggie Hamrock had 21 digs.

In match two of the day, Seton Hill came out strong against Notre Dame. The Griffins scored the initial four points of the contest. Freshman Lizzie Willis would record a kill to cut the NDC deficit to three points, 17-14, but SHU scored eight of the final 11 points to win the set 25-17.

In the second set, Seton Hill grabbed a 4-0 lead, again, but NDC came back to tie the set at four. The Griffins continued to roll, leading 21-8 at one point and winning 25-18.

Notre Dame's only win came in the third set. They held their first lead of the match going in front 5-0, using three McHugh kills. The Falcons rolled through, leading 16-6 at one point. A kill by sophomore Lauren Toman gave Notre Dame a 25-15 victory.

The fourth set was very close early and was tied at 11. Seton Hill then went on an 11-4 run to go up 22-15. SHU would take the set 25-19 and won the match 3-1.

McHugh had 18 kills and 10 digs. Toman (11) and Willis (10) both reached career-highs in kills. Freshman Katie Richardson and Alexandra Kaeberlein each had two aces and Kaeberlein finished with 24 digs. Amelia Kaeberlein added 16 digs.

Viktoria Farian gave the Griffins 19 kills, an attack percentage of 36.2-percent and 10 digs. Jillian Livorse had 18 digs. SHU had two players with 15, or more, assists.

"Against Malone, we started fast all three sets and it really set the tone. When Malone battled back, we were able to finish the set every time," head coach Travis Hinkle said. "It was a complete team effort. Malone is a team that the girls were really hungry to get win against, especially our juniors, and they definitely showed it on the court."

"In the Seton Hill match, we got ourselves into early holes the first two sets and couldn't catch up," he said. "In the third set, we got back to our game and controlled the tempo the whole way. In the fourth set, we battled, but Seton Hill showed why they are a perennial NCAA Tournament Team. They are well coached with high volleyball IQs. We will learn from this and bounce back for two more matches tomorrow."

Notre Dame plays tomorrow, September 1, in the Hall of Fame City Challenge as they take on Daemen College at 11:15 a.m. and the University of Southern Indiana at 6 p.m.