WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – On Friday night, Notre Dame College worked from behind multiple times throughout the match to keep the game close, but the Falcons ultimately fell to West Liberty University, 3-0.
NDC, who recorded a season-low 26 kills on the night, saw West Liberty use three aces during a 6-1 run to start the match. Later in the first set, another ace put the Hilltoppers up 17-5. That's when the Falcons put six consecutive points on the scoreboard, bringing the deficit to six, 17-11. But, WLU closed out the set with a 25-14 win.
In the second set, Notre Dame held an early 6-4 advantage, before West Liberty went on a 4-0 run to take an 8-6 lead. After that point, the Hilltoppers never trailed again and won, 25-15.
In the first two sets, WLU only committed six total attack errors. They had hit percentages of .250 and .289 in sets one and two.
Set three looked to be going Notre Dame's way in the outset. Freshman
Blaire Barr, who had four of her team-leading nine kills in the third set, gave the Falcons two points with a couple of kills and she helped on defense with a block assist. Following a WLU service error, Notre Dame's lead stretched to four points, 9-5. Later in the set, with the Falcons matching West Liberty's runs, NDC was holding on to a 21-18 lead. However, the home team rallied back and scored seven of the final eight points, grabbing a 25-22 victory.
Senior
Paige Staudacher totaled 22 assists and sophomore
Amelia Kaeberlein had two aces for Notre Dame. On defense, senior
Alexandra Kaeberlein led the team with 20 digs and freshman
Sarah DeGeorge added 14. Freshman
Carli Derda finished with a career-high four blocks, all coming in the third set.
Olivia Baumhoer led the Hilltoppers with 10 kills and Kirsten Bogunovich had 31 assists while Mackenzie Sims and Kailee Cunningham, each had four aces. West Liberty totaled 11 aces in the match. Cunningham and Sims also led the team in digs with 16 and 15, respectively.
The Falcons come home to take on Lake Erie College, on October 15. The match is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
