This week: Notre Dame College volleyball will take part in the Salem University Tri-Match, in Salem, W.Va., on September 11. They will take on Salem University at 3 p.m. and then Point Park University at 5 p.m.

Records: The Falcons currently hold a record of 5-6, riding a three game winning streak. Salem is 2-12 on the season and Point Park is 4-5.

Coaches Corner: Travis Hinkle is in his first season at Notre Dame and Bridget Bielich is also in her first campaign at the helm of Point Park. Ashley Ziegle enters her second season as the head coach of Salem. Last season, the Tigers went 9-24.

Rankings: None of these teams were ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll.

Series History: The Falcons have a 1-0 record all-time against Salem University and they have not played Point Park.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame had a solid weekend at the Vulcan Invitational in California, Pa. After falling to the host California University of Pa. on Friday, the Falcons won three consecutive games, taking down Bloomsburg (3-0), Mercyhurst (3-2) and Indiana University of Pa. (3-0). This is their first three game winning streak since October 13-17 of last season. This past weekend also marked the first time since 2015 that the program has won with sweeps on back-to-back days. In the three wins this weekend, the hit percentage was at .195, or better. The team recorded 10 blocks against Cal Pa. and Mercyhurst, which is a season-high. After the weekend, Mary Kate McHugh was named to the All-Tournament Team. McHugh totaled 67 kills and had double-doubles (kills and digs) in all four games. She also finished with two aces and had season-highs in points (22), digs (18) and kills (20) against Mercyhurst. Her 20 kills also marked a career record. Alexandra Kaeberlein had 95 digs over the four games while Paige Staudacher had 150 assists, including 53 against Mercyhurst, which was a season-high and ties her for tenth place in the NDC single-game rankings. McHugh leads the team with 173 kills and 4.33 kills-per-set. Paige Staudacher has 397 assists on the year and 11 aces. Kaeberlein has 263 digs on the season and Erin Daugherty has recorded 14 blocks.
 
Noting the Tigers: Salem got off to a rough start this season, losing their first 11 matches and getting swept in six of them. They traveled to Institute, W.Va. this past weekend where they defeated Montreat College (3-1) and Carlow University (3-0). In three games, they went 2-1. Liane Moser led the Tigers in kills in all three games. She leads the team with 91 kills on the season. This year, the Tigers average just 7.6 kills-per-set while their opponents average 11.6. SU has two players with over 140 assists on the season in Cassidy Pluta (148) and Alaina Weltz (170). Amy Turbak leads the squad with 180 digs on the season.

Noting the Pioneers: Point Park also got off to a slow start, falling to a 1-4 record in their first five games. The turnaround to their season began with a sweep of the University of Rio Grande on August 31. That was the beginning of a three game winning streak as they beat Bluefield College and Shawnee State University that same weekend. In their most previous contest, they lost to Mercyhurst, 3-1, on September 5. PPU won the opening set, 27-25, but Mercyhurst won the final three sets. Point Park ended the game with a hit percentage of 10.1-percent. Jordan Dixon and Ashley Taylor each had 12 kills in the match while Dixon also led the team with 21 digs. Jazlyn Rozier held a hit percentage of .333. Dixon has 91 kills on the season and Brittney Bianco has 201 assists. Morgan Deangelo has 135 digs on defense and Destiny Tucker has 24 total blocks.

National Rankings: Notre Dame's Alexandra Kaeberlein is fifth in the country in total digs with 263 and ninth in digs-per-set at 6.58 per game, while her teammate, Mary Kate McHugh ranks sixth in NCAA Division II in total kills at 173. For Salem, Alaina Weltz is tied for ninth in the country with 23 aces and Nina Isaac has 63 blocks, which leads all of Division II.