SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Playing for the first time in a week, Notre Dame College lost the first set, 25-22, to West Virginia Wesleyan College, on Friday, but bounced back to win the final three sets with the help of eight aces and seven blocks over the final two sets.

West Virginia Wesleyan jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in the first set and did a good job of holding that lead. NDC was able to fight back throughout the set, but only took the lead twice. A kill by senior Mary Kate McHugh put the Falcons up 16-15, but then the Bobcats went on a 4-1 run. That run gave them the momentum needed to fight past a late NDC run and win, 25-22. WVWC held a hit percentage of .367 in the first set.

"I think we started slow, then we picked it up," McHugh said. "Coming out in the second set, third set and fourth set, I think we came out a lot stronger, we knew what we had to do, we knew what worked, so we just kept doing that."

In the second set, the Bobcats held an early 4-1 lead before NDC grabbed the lead with a 4-0 run of their own. After that point, the set featured 11 ties and four lead changes. The Falcons had to put together a sizable comeback as WVWC held a late 19-16 lead. Two Wesleyan errors, an ace and a kill gave NDC the advantage, again. They would keep that lead and win, 25-22. The Falcons had a hit percentage of .406 in the second set, while the Bobcats had a .387 hit percentage.

"The biggest thing with the second and third set is that we had two very big parts of our game come alive," said head coach Travis Hinkle. "Our serving game, we had a lot of aces and we served really aggressively. And then our block, we didn't have any blocks the first two sets and we finished with seven. When we got a really good block up, they couldn't do anything with the ball."

Notre Dame put their foot on the gas pedal to start the third set. With senior Paige Staudacher serving, NDC put the first nine points on the scoreboard. Staudacher had three aces and McHugh had two kills to highlight the incredible run. The Falcons led by at least seven point the rest of the match and won, 25-15. NDC had six aces in the third set.

"That third set, we had Paige [Staudacher], Amelia [Kaeberlein] and Alexandra [Kaeberlein] come in serving in line and they just served aggressive and took Wesleyan out of their system," Hinkle mentioned. "We work on serving everyday at practice. Good, low, aggressive serves, that's how we're successful. We're not the biggest team in the conference, but we're aggressive and we're fast and we're going to outwork you."

The fourth set began with a Notre Dame 8-1 run and the Falcons were off to the races again. The Bobcats committed five attack errors to help NDC close out the fourth set with eight consecutive points.

McHugh finished with 19 kills, a .395 hit percentage and two aces. She also had a season-high four blocks and 23 points. She has totaled, at least, 17 kills in three of her last four games.

"This is a really important part of the season, where we really need to push. We need to get these wins in order to be where we want to be heading into the tournament," she said. "I think that's where our mentality is at."

"Mary Kate knows when she needs to turn it on and be the leader. She has had a fire in her eyes in every match she's played over the past few weeks," Hinkle said. "Everyone in the conference knows who Mary Kate is. She doesn't care if she has 20 kills, she cares about her team winning. I think that is most important thing, she is the ultimate team player."

Freshman Kaye Dregalla had 10 kills, including four in the fourth set, and a hit percentage of .381. NDC finished the game with a .270 hit percentage. Staudacher finished with 38 assists, four aces and eight digs. Her four aces rank third in NDC history for a four-set match. Senior Alexandra Kaeberlein finished with 14 digs. Over the four sets, 19 players saw action on the court.

"I think it's important to get a lot of players playing time, especially on senior week," Hinkle explained. "Losing nine seniors, those [younger] players are going to step in and take a bigger role. But, a lot of those subs were about needing a spark and we got a spark."

Lauryn Antolock led the Bobcats with 10 kills and four blocks, Payton Hefner added 17 assists. Abigail Anderson finished with 13 digs.

The Falcons' Senior Day is tomorrow, against Davis and Elkins College. The scheduled start time is 6 p.m.