CANTON, Ohio – On Saturday, Notre Dame College was locked in a tight battle with Daemen College throughout the match, but lost 3-1. They fell to the University of Southern Indiana 3-0 later in the day, but the Falcons had two players named to the All-Tournament team.

In the first game of the day, and third of the tournament, Notre Dame (2-5) played Daemen (2-4) tough throughout the first set. Freshman Lizzie Willis had a kill to tie the game at 16 and then later in the game, a kill by freshman Katie Richardson knotted the game up at 19. But the Wildcats went on a 6-1 run, and won the set 25-20.

In set number two, NDC used a 4-0 run (two errors, two kills by junior Mary Kate McHugh) to distance themselves from DC, 11-6. Later in the set, the Falcons had another 4-0 run which included a kill by Willis and two by McHugh to push the advantage to 22-15. Finally an attack error ended the game with a 25-19 NDC advantage. Notre Dame had a hit percentage of 25.5-percent.

Daemen has struggled in the third set this season, but turned the tide on Saturday, scoring the first seven points of the set. Notre Dame would cut the deficit to one point (14-13) but that would be as close as they could get as the Wildcats won 25-19.

DC closed out the match in the fourth set. Following the first point by Notre Dame, Daemen took the lead and never gave it up. The Falcons only tied the game once the rest of the way and fell 25-18. The Wildcats had a hit percentage of 46.9-percent.

For Notre Dame, McHugh had 18 kills and 13 digs while Willis added 13 kills and a hit percentage of 29-percent. Junior Alexandra Kaeberlein led the Falcons with 26 digs and sophomore Riley Coleman was close behind with 18. Junior Paige Staudacher added 39 assists.

Jenn Heritz and Sam Logan led the way for Daemen with 12 kills and Ali Greenwood had 20 digs. Georgia Wicker added two aces while Isa McCaffrey had 52 assists and two blocks.

In game two, Notre Dame led for much of the first set against the Screaming Eagles. NDC led 5-1 to begin the match and still led 11-6, later in the match, when Willis converted on a kill.

A 10-5 run by USI tied the game at 16, but they weren't able to break through and take the lead until a kill by Mikaila Humphrey gave the Screaming Eagles a 22-21 lead. Southern Indiana won the set 25-22.

In the second set, Southern Indiana led much of the way. NDC cut the lead to two points (21-19) but USI scored the final four points of the set to win 25-19. Southern Indiana had a 29.6-percent hit percentage in the set. 

The third set was very close and Notre Dame took a 17-15 lead late in the game. However, a 10-3 run gave Southern Indiana a 25-20 victory.

McHugh led the Falcons in kills with 14 and junior Erin Daugherty had a hit percentage of 31.3-percent. Alexandra Kaeberlein helped the defense with 23 digs.

USI had six players with four, or more, kills, but no player had more than seven kills. Elexis Coleman led the team with six blocks and Casey Cepicky had 14 digs.

After the tournament, McHugh was named to the All-Tournament Team as the kills-per-set leader over the two days. Alexandra Kaeberlein was also named to the team because she led everyone in digs-per-set over the two days.

"Mary Kate (McHugh) and Ali (Kaeberlein) are the leaders on and off the court, even though we weren't as successful as we hoped to be as a whole this weekend, they both had outstanding tournaments," said head coach Travis Hinkle. "Mary Kate had double digit kills in all four matches, and Ali didn't have a single receiving error all weekend, that's what you want out of your leaders."

Notre Dame will play next in the Vulcan Invitational in California, Pa. Their first two games will be played on September 7 against California University of Pennsylvania at 11 a.m. and then Bloomsburg University at 4 p.m.