ATHENS, W.Va. – Notre Dame College secured their first road victory against a Mountain East Conference opponent on Thursday, as they defeated Concord University, 3-1. After losing the first set, the Falcons were able to win three straight sets, each by at least four points.

To begin the match, NDC's early three-point lead did not last long after Concord scored eight consecutive points to grab a 12-7 lead. Notre Dame followed that with an 8-3 run that tied the game at 15 and the Falcons would eventually take an 18-17 lead. The Mountain Lions closed out the set, however, with an 8-3 run and won 25-21.

Notre Dame jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second set, and apart from three ties, the Falcons held the lead throughout. NDC scored four straight points to go up 12-7 and later used two kills, two attack errors and three aces by freshman Sarah DeGeorge to put seven consecutive points on the scoreboard to extend the lead to 10, 21-11. Although the Mountain Lions put together a late 7-2 run, NDC finished off the set to win, 25-18.

Another big run helped decide the third set. NDC was trailing 7-5, but rode a 9-3 run to go up 14-10. Senior Mary Kate McHugh totaled three kills during the run. After that point, the Falcons were able to build a comfortable lead and won the set, 25-20.

The fourth set featured six lead changes and the excitement really ramped up as NDC was leading, 17-15. Concord scored three quick points to take their first lead in quite some time and they would hold onto the lead late into the set, 21-19. Notre Dame shut the door on Concord after a service error, two kills by freshman Kaye Dregalla, two kills by DeGeorge and an ace by freshman Morgan Tenney. The Falcons won, 25-21.

"It's always good to come out with a win after a long bus trip, jumping off the bus and playing," said head coach Travis Hinkle. "After losing the first set, it was nice to see us bounce back and take the three sets. We did a good job staying aggressive on the offensive end and our defense got great touches on the ball."

For Notre Dame, McHugh led the team with 17 kills. She also had a hit percentage of .325 and 10 digs. Dregalla had 14 kills. Senior Paige Staudacher finished with 49 assists and 10 digs, for her ninth double-double (assists and digs) of the season. Her 49 assists are tied for eighth most for a four-set match at NDC. Senior Alexandra Kaeberlein had 31 digs, which is tied for fourth most in a four-set match in program history. Notre Dame finished with 76 digs. The Falcons also had nine aces, led by DeGeorge with three, Staudacher with two and sophomore Katie Richardson with two.

After Concord had 13 kills with just three errors (.313 hit percentage) in set one, they never had a hit percentage over .114 in any other set. Jenna Mounts led the team with 17 assists, Imani Rodgers added 16. Sheridan Herron had 10 kills with a .381 hit percentage. Lindsay Maddox recorded 21 digs.

The Falcons travel to Glenville State University and will play the Pioneers, tomorrow. The match will begin at 1 p.m.