This week: Notre Dame College volleyball plays their final home game of the regular season when they host Urbana University on November 12, beginning at 6 p.m. The Falcons then finish the season on the road against Frostburg State University (November 15, 6 p.m.) and Fairmont State University (November 16, 1 p.m.).

Around the Corner: The Mountain East Conference Tournament begins on November 21. The top-eight teams in the conference earn a spot.

Records: Notre Dame is 21-10 this season, with an MEC record of 7-6. Urbana is 16-10, with a conference record of 11-2. Frostburg State is currently 11-14 (3-10 MEC) while Fairmont State holds a record of 13-14 (6-7 MEC).

Coaches Corner: Travis Hinkle is in his second season as head coach at Notre Dame and has a record of 37-27 with a 15-14 MEC record. Kara Hellmann is in just her second season as head coach of Urbana and holds a record of 37-22, while going 21-8 in the MEC. Becky Fletcher is in year number nine as the head coach of Frostburg. She has 107 wins in her time with the program. Courtney Materazzi is in her sixth campaign at Fairmont, leading her teams to a record of 117-71, overall, and 62-31 in the MEC.

Rankings: None of these teams are ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll.

Series History: Notre Dame is 2-16 against Urbana since the 2011 campaign while they hold a record of 4-13 against Fairmont State. Notre Dame lost 3-2 to Urbana earlier this season but beat Fairmont, 3-1. The Falcons swept Frostburg State earlier this season in the first ever matchup between the two teams.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame started another winning streak last week, defeating West Liberty and Ohio Dominican University. The win over West Liberty was the program's first over WLU since 2016, and it featured an incredible comeback. Down 2-0, the Falcons stormed back, winning three consecutive sets and holding a hit percentage of .316 and .250 in the fourth and fifth set, respectively. Notre Dame's 21 win mark is the most in the NCAA Division II era and matches the amount that the program won in 2007. Their nine home wins are the most since 2016. They have not won more than 21 games, nor have they won more than nine home games in a season, since, at least, 2002. This season, the Falcons lead the conference in assists (1,368), digs (2,062), kills (1,447), aces (206), aces per set (1.84) and attacks (4,325). Nationally, the team ranks sixth in attacks, fourth in assists and digs, eighth in kills and 14th in aces. For the season, Alexandra Kaeberlein is currently fourth in the country in digs with 629 and 18th in digs per set at 5.72. Paige Staudacher is fifth nationally with 1,126 assists. Mary Kate McHugh now has 342 kills, which is second in the conference. Staudacher and Katie Richardson leads the team in aces with 34. Richardson is at the top of the team with 72 blocks.

Career record watch: In the MEC history books Alexandra Kaeberlein is currently second in career digs (2,410), Mary Kate McHugh is fifth in career kills (1,533) and Paige Staudacher is second in career assists (3,755). Among active career leaders in DII, McHugh ranks fifth in career kills, second in attacks (4,699), 25th in attacks per set (10.13) and 13th in matches played (128). Kaeberlein is third among active leaders in the nation in career digs, 22nd with a 5.07 digs per set average and eighth in matches played with 131. Staudacher is 13th in the nation among active leaders in career assists.

Noting the Blue Knights: Urbana has won, at least, 10 MEC games in the past four seasons. They are also looking to win the remaining three games to improve their streak to four straight seasons of winning, at least, 19 games in a campaign. The Blue Knights have gone 8-2 in their last 10 games. Although, they are 8-1 at home this year, UU holds a 6-4 road record, so Notre Dame will look to use home court advantage to get past Urbana. On October 4, the Blue Knights snuck past NDC at home, 3-2. Hannah Delor leads the Blue Knights this season with 329 kills, while Anna Davis is at the top of the team in assists with 902. Courtney Niesen is at the top of the squad with 35 aces and 594 digs. Kaitlin Trace leads the team with 89 blocks. The team has 175.5 blocks on the year.

Noting the Bobcats: Frostburg State has matched their win total from last season (11). They started 2019 winning their first four games, but the MEC slate has been very tough. Their wins in MEC play have come against Fairmont State, West Virginia Wesleyan and Glenville State. The latter two are at the bottom of the conference. In MEC play, Frostburg has been swept eight times, including their game against NDC on September 28. They are currently in 10th in the MEC standings, two games behind Charleston for eighth place. Jackie Sterenberg leads the team with 210 kills and Edwyna Lainez has 611 assists and 41 aces. Cori Smothers is at the top of the team with 367 digs.

Noting the Fighting Falcons: After winning, at least, 20 games from 2010 to 2017, Fairmont State won just 13 games last year and have 13 this season, with three games remaining. The Fighting Falcons have had an interesting season. Most of their conference losses have come to the top six teams in the MEC (Notre Dame, Urbana, Wheeling, West Virginia State, West Liberty). But, they have also lost to Frostburg State, who is below them in the standings. On the other hand, they have beaten West Liberty and Davis & Elkins, who are both in the top six in the MEC. At this moment, Fairmont is seventh in the conference. Julia DiPaola has 275 kills on the season and also leads the team in digs with 358. Lilianna Keber gives the Fighting Falcons 6.45 assists per set and has 658 on the season. Fairmont has 1,687 digs this season and 215 blocks. Rebecca Feeney has totaled 119 blocks, herself, including 28 solo blocks.