This week: Notre Dame College volleyball continues their homestand this week as they host No. 17 Wheeling University on October 29, at 6 p.m. On November 1, the Falcons travel to play West Virginia State University, at 7 p.m. Then, NDC will play at the University of Charleston on November 2, at 2 p.m.

Records: Notre Dame is 18-8 this season, with an MEC record of 5-4. Wheeling has a mark of 20-3, overall, and 8-0 in conference play. The Yellow Jackets are 14-11 (7-2 MEC) while Charleston is 8-16 (3-5 MEC).

Coaches Corner: Travis Hinkle is in his second season as head coach at Notre Dame and has a record of 34-25 (13-12 MEC). Christy Benner has a record of 590-130 over 18 seasons with Wheeling. Her teams have never lost a match to an MEC team, putting together a 116-0 conference record. The head coach of West Virginia State is Kris Kern, who is in his third season. Kern has a record of 53-38 (23-18 MEC). Jenna Theden is in her sixth season with Charleston. Last season, she guided the Golden Eagles to an 18-17 (11-5 MEC) record, and runner-up in the MEC Tournament.

Rankings: Wheeling is ranked 17th in the AVCA Coaches Poll.

Series History: Notre Dame is 0-13 against Wheeling since 2013, but won their first set in program history against the Cardinals this season, on October 10. NDC holds a record of 4-2 against West Virginia State and the Falcons are 0-7 versus Charleston, since 2013.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame defeated West Virginia Wesleyan College, on Friday, extending their win streak to four games. After celebrating Senior Night on Saturday, NDC fell in a tough match with Davis & Elkins College, 3-2, marking their first home defeat. In Murphy Gymnasium, NDC is now 8-1. Notre Dame will look to become the first conference opponent, since the MEC formed in 2013, to defeat Wheeling. When the Falcons won the first set against WU earlier this season, NDC had a hit percentage of .486 with 19 kills and just two attack errors. Notre Dame, now tied for fifth in the conference, will play two of the top three teams in the MEC standings this week against Wheeling (1st) and West Virginia State (3rd). This season, the Falcons lead the conference in assists (1,155), digs (1,746), kills (1,224), aces (180), aces per set (1.91) and attacks (3,628). Nationally, the team ranks fifth in attacks, sixth in assists, digs and aces, tenth in kills and 17th in digs per set (18.57). For the season, Alexandra Kaeberlein is currently sixth in the country in digs with 528 and 15th in digs per set at 5.74. Paige Staudacher is fifth nationally with 958 assists. Mary Kate McHugh now has 279 kills, which is tied for the lead in the conference.

Career record watch: In the MEC history books Alexandra Kaeberlein is currently second in career digs (2,309), Mary Kate McHugh is fifth in career kills (1,467) and Paige Staudacher is third in career assists (3,587). Staudacher is just 19 assists from taking second place in MEC history. McHugh ranks sixth among active career leaders in DII in kills, second in attacks (4,521), 22nd in attacks per set (10.14) and 15th in matches played (123). Kaeberlein is third among active leaders in the nation in digs, 22nd with 5.05 digs per set and ninth in matches played with 126. Staudacher is 13th in the nation among active leaders in career assists.

Noting the Cardinals: Wheeling is in the midst of a 15-game win streak. Their last loss came against St. Cloud State on September 14. All of their losses have come against teams who are currently ranked in the top-12 of the National Poll. Out of eight MEC games that they have played the Cardinals have swept everyone, except Notre Dame and Fairmont State, who each won a set. Last week, WU beat Malone (3-1) and West Virginia State (3-0). The Cardinals held West Virginia State to 36 points scored, an average of 12, over the three sets. Wheeling is in the top-20 nationally in blocks per set (5th) at 2.51, aces per set (7th) at 13.45, digs per set (10th) with an average of 19.3, kills per set (12th) at 14.23 and in hitting percentage (16th), sitting at .259. They lead the MEC in those categories. Stephanie Sylvester leads the conference and is fourth in the country, with 12.1 assists per set and she ranks seventh in the nation in total assists with 932. Audrey Francis is fourth nationally with 6.27 digs per set and ranks 15th with 483 total digs. Haley Kramer is fifth in DII with a hit percentage of .425. Breanna Kramer leads the team with 251 kills.

Noting the Yellow Jackets: West Virginia State started the season 4-9, playing in tournaments held in Hawaii, West Virginia and Tennessee. But once they began their MEC portion of the schedule, the Yellow Jackets turned their season around. From September 27 until October 22, WVSU won 10 straight games, including a 7-0 record against conference foes. They did cool off last week, losing to West Liberty and Wheeling in three sets. West Virginia State ranks 12th in the nation, and first in the MEC, with 204 blocks on the season as well as a 20th rank in blocks per set (2.32). Gabrielle Thompson is third in the country with 115 blocks and fifth with 1.39 blocks per set. Devon Putnam has 243 digs this season, which leads the team. Jenna Dufresne is tied for first in the conference with 279 kills. Brianna Brandt is at the top of the team with 457 assists.

Noting the Golden Eagles: Charleston began 2019 with a 2-13 record through 15 games, including a 10-game losing streak, from September 13 to September 28. Since that time, the Golden Eagles have gone 6-3, which includes their MEC wins against Glenville State, Concord and Frostburg State. Charleston is second in the conference with 141 aces. Jessica Sunnenberg leads the team with 24 aces, and UC has three players who have at least 21 aces. Sydney Burt leads the Golden Eagles with 147 kills. Kelsey Matusic has recorded 382 digs this season with 4.49 digs per set. Leading the way with 30 blocks is Beyonce Andrews.