This week: Notre Dame College volleyball will battle No. 20 Wheeling University on October 10, at 7 p.m. Then on October 11, the Falcons take on West Liberty University at 6 p.m. Both games are on the road.

Records: Notre Dame is 14-5 with a mark of 2-1 in conference. Wheeling is currently 14-3 with a conference record of 3-0. West Liberty has gotten off to a 9-9 (1-2 MEC) start.

Coaches Corner: Travis Hinkle is in his second season as head coach at Notre Dame and has a record of 30-22 (10-9 MEC). Christy Benner is now in her 18th campaign with a record of 584-130, including a 111-0 mark in MEC play. Kayla Mull is now in her eighth campaign at West Liberty. Last season, the Hilltoppers went 24-10 (11-5 MEC).

Rankings: Wheeling is ranked 20th in the AVCA Coaches Poll.

Series History: NDC is 5-9 all-time against West Liberty since their first matchup in 2011 and they are 0-13 against Wheeling since 2013.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame currently has a 14-5 record this season, which is their best start since going 13-4 in 2008. The Falcons went 2-1 last week, beating Point Park 3-0 and Ursuline 3-1 in a home tri-match on Tuesday. Their first conference loss came on Friday in an incredibly close five-set match against Urbana. In the match against the Blue Knights, the Falcons totaled 132 digs, which is the third highest amount of any team in NCAA Division II this season. Alexandra Kaeberlein added 35 digs, which is tied for the most in NDC history for a five-set match. Records were broken throughout last week as Paige Staudacher became the program's career assists leader against Point Park and then Mary Kate McHugh took the top spot on the program's career kills list versus Urbana. The Falcons still rank highly in multiple categories, both nationally and in conference. In DII, the program is fourth in digs (1,285), fifth in assists (831) and attacks (2,612), eight in aces (128), ninth in kills (882) and 10th in digs per set (19.2). The Falcons lead the conference in aces, assists, digs, kills and attacks. Currently, Alexandra Kaeberlein is sixth in the country with 371 digs and 15th in the country in digs per set with 5.7 while Staudacher is sixth in assists with 672. She also leads the team in aces with 23. Kaye Dregalla has 197 kills, which leads the team and Katie Richardson has given NDC 44 blocks. Several Falcons also rank among the top active players in the country. Alexandra Kaeberlein is 4th among active players in digs with 2,152 and sixth in sets played with 430. McHugh is sixth with 1,365 career kills, first in career attacks with 4,270 and 14th with 419 sets played. Staudacher is 13th in career assists (3,301).

Noting the Cardinals: Wheeling defeated Fairmont State (3-1) and Frostburg State (3-0) last weekend. They also opened this week with a 3-0 win over Ohio Dominican on Tuesday. The Cardinals entered the season as the 13th in team in Division II before falling to 22 and have now settled in at 20 for the last two weeks. Wheeling has put together an incredible run, winning all six of the MEC Tournament Championships since 2013. The program has still never lost a conference game, regular season or tournament, since the MEC began. Since 2013, the Cardinals lowest win total for a season is 33, they have five Elite Eight appearances in the Division II National Tournament and the program won a National Championship in 2015. Just like NDC, WU leads the conference in many categories. They top the MEC in assists per set (13.2), digs per set (19.5), hit percentage (.248) and kills per set (14.07). Nationally, they rank seventh in digs per set and 11th in assists per set. Audrey Francis ranks third in the country in digs per set with 6.63 and fifth in the country with 378 total digs. Stephanie Sylvester is fourth in Division II with 692 assists and sixth in assists per set, sitting at 12.1. Breanna Kramer is at the top of the team with 193 kills. Wheeling ranks 18th in the country in blocks as they have 135.5 on the season and Allonda Watkins leads the way with 63.

Noting the Hilltoppers: West Liberty went 2-1 last week, beating Malone University and Frostburg State and losing to Fairmont State. The Hilltoppers got back to the .500 mark by sweeping Salem University on Monday. WLU, who was picked in preseason to finish second in the MEC, has had a streaky start to their season. After starting the campaign 1-3, West Liberty put together a 5-1 run. Since that time, they have gone 3-5. In the MEC, West Liberty is second in digs (1,119) and assists (754). They are third in kills (806), kills per set (12.8) and assists per set (12). Kailee Cunningham is 11th in Division II with 344 digs. The next closest on the team is Mackenzie Sims with 144. Alissa Dickson has 124 kills and 15 aces, which both lead the team. Renee Lemke is at the top of the squad in assists with 299. Madison Clayton is at the top of the team with 38 blocks.