This Week: Notre Dame College opens their season in Clermont, Florida, taking on ten teams over six days.

Florida Trip: On March 7, NDC takes on the University of Mary (1:45 p.m.) and Bloomfield College (4 p.m.). They will play the University of Bridgeport (4 p.m.) and the University of Southern Indiana (6:15 p.m.) on March 8. On March 9, they play West Chester University (9 a.m.) and Slippery Rock University (1:30 p.m.). The Falcons take on University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (1:30 p.m.) and St. Thomas Aquinas College (4 p.m.) on March 11 and then wrap up the trip with Lake Erie College (11:45 a.m.) and Nyack College (2 p.m.) on March 12.

Records: Last season, NDC went 19-31. UMary is currently 7-9 this season, Bloomsfield has a record of 1-4, Southern Indiana is 8-8, West Chester holds a record of 4-5 and Slippery Rock is 1-4. Bridgeport finished 2018 with a 25-25 record, Pitt-Johnstown was 13-23, St. Thomas Aquinas went 14-30 last season, Lake Erie was 12-26 while Nyack went 7-37 in 2018.

Coaches Corner: Kelsey Stopp takes over as head coach for the Falcons, after she was an assistant coach with the program in 2018. She was named to the position on August 2, 2018.

Rankings: Southern Indiana was receiving votes in the first NFCA Coaches Poll, released on February 24.

Series History: The Falcons are 5-2 against Lake Erie College since the 2013 season. NDC is 2-0 versus Pitt-Johnstown, all-time, and they beat Nyack College in their only meeting in 2017. The Falcons are 0-2 versus the University of Mary and 0-1 against Slippery Rock. They have never played Bridgeport, Bloomfield, St. Thomas Aquinas, Southern Indiana or West Chester.

Recent History in Florida: After weather kept the team from traveling in early March of last season, the Falcons missed four games in Florida. In their remaining games on the schedule, the team went 4-9. Their most successful trip in the last five years was in 2017, when they put together an 8-5 record to begin the season, highlighted by a win over No. 7 Grand Valley State University. Notre Dame has a record of 26-40 since the team started traveling to Clermont, Florida in 2014.

Noting the Falcons: After coming up one game shy of 20 wins last season, Notre Dame will look to get back to that number. Over the last 10 seasons, NDC has won over 20 games, six times. Shelby Stephens returns for the Falcons, as she was one of the best hitters on the team in 47 games last season. She put together a batting average of .329 and a slugging percentage of .463, with 49 hits, eight doubles, four home runs, 24 RBI and only 11 strikeouts. Defensively, she had a fielding percentage of 95-percent. Erin Calhoun is also returning after hitting .259, with 30 hits, five doubles and nine strikeouts in 116 at bats, in 2018. Halli Swiger led the team by playing in 48 games during her junior season. All three will be seniors on the field. Junior Kathryn Smith was the Falcons primary catcher, playing in 40 games, and was tied for the team lead with a fielding percentage of 98.7-percent. The Falcons look to replace Amy Hoover, a senior last season, as she led the team in nearly every offensive category. In the pitcher's circle, Notre Dame returns sophomore McKenzie Zigmont, junior Taylor Olson and sophomore Mikayla Grajczyk. Zigmont led the team in ERA (3.26), walks and hits per innings pitched (1.45) and opposing batting average (.279). She also had nine wins and 11 complete games in 105 innings. Olson led the team in wins (10), complete games (13), innings pitched (162) and strikeouts (100). Grajczyk made 22 appearances, but just five starts. She had the only save on the team in 57.2 innings pitched.