This week: Notre Dame College volleyball heads to West Liberty, W.Va. this weekend to play in the West Liberty/Wheeling Atlantic Region Crossover. On September 20, the Falcons take on Shippensburg University at 3 p.m. and Slippery Rock University at 7 p.m. NDC then battles Mercyhurst University (12 p.m.) and Clarion University (2 p.m.) on September 21.

Records: Notre Dame is 8-1 to begin the season while Shippensburg and Mercyhurst are both 6-1. Clarion is 5-3 while Slippery Rock holds a record of 4-3.

Coaches Corner: Travis Hinkle is in his second season as head coach at Notre Dame and has a record of 24-18. Leanne Piscotty enters her 16th season at Shippensburg with a record of 352-206. Ryan Patton is also in his 16th year at Mercyhurst and he has a record of 229-215. Laurie Lokash is in her 36th season at Slippery Rock and has a record of 640-561. Now in her 13th campaign at Clarion, Jennifer Herron holds a record of 292-129.

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

Series History: Notre Dame lost their only matchups with Shippensburg and Slippery Rock back in 2017. The Falcons went 0-1 versus Clarion in 2013 and they hold a record of 1-6 against Mercyhurst since 2011.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame has not started a season 8-1 in the past 17 seasons. The current ride the Falcons are on is the best stretch since 2008 when the program started that campaign with a 13-4 record. That season, NDC won ten straight games from August 30 until September 23. The Falcons also put together a 7-1 stretch in both the 2007 and 2009 seasons, but neither of those campaigns featured a seven game win streak as this one has. Early in 2019, the Falcons are ranked near the top in multiple categories. The Falcons are fourth in the nation in assists (415), sixth in digs (607) and seventh in kills (442). They lead the Mountain East in those categories. They also rank top-20 in assists per set with 12.97, digs per set with 18.97, aces with 64 and attacks with 1,218. The team leads the conference in aces per set, assists per set, hit percentage, kill per set, assists, digs, kills, aces and attacks. Alexandra Kaeberlein is seventh in Division II with 184 digs while Paige Staudacher ranks 14th in the nation and first in the MEC in assists at 324. Kaye Dregalla leads the MEC with 100 kills. Last week, NDC went 5-0 beginning with a win over Malone University in a close 3-2 home opener and then lost only one set in their four games over the weekend, including a 3-1 win over the host, Kutztown University. Mary Kate McHugh won MEC Player of the Week this week after totaling 50 kills and had 59.5 total points over the week and becoming the NDC career kills leader in the school's Division II era.

Noting the Raiders: Shippensburg won three out of four last weekend at the PSAC/MEC Crossover. Prior to their loss to Urbana on Saturday, Shippensburg started the season 5-0. The Raiders lead the PSAC in kills per set (13.46) and assists per set (12.42). Samantha Webber leads the conference with an average hit percentage of .412 and leads the team in kills, recording 95 and blocks with 20. Emily Hangen has 269 assists which leads the team. Megan Forstburg is at the top of the squad with 118 digs. The Raiders have won at least 20 games every year since 2015 and last season, SU lost to Clarion in the first round of the NCAA-II Tournament.

Noting the Rock: Slippery Rock put together a season of 11-16 in 2018. The program has not won over 15 games in a season since 2014. Last weekend, Slippery Rock defeated Urbana and West Virginia Wesleyan, but lost to Charleston and West Virginia State, who happened to be the two hosts of the PSAC/MEC Crossover tournament. Gabby Huck leads the team with 59 kills and Zoe Rivet is at the top of the team with 209 assists and 16 aces. While defensively, Jalyn Willard has 156 digs and Abigail Nigon has 19 blocks. The Rock is 20th in the country in digs per set with 18.46.

Noting the Lakers: Mercyhurst is 6-1 this season, after winning three out of the four games in the PSAC/MEC Crossover. Their only loss this season came at the hands of West Virginia State. On the first weekend of the season, MU beat Urbana, Ursuline and Daemen before taking down West Virginia Wesleyan, Charleston and Urbana, again, in the PSAC/MEC Crossover. Hannah Vuylsteke ranks 14th in the nation with 6.12 digs per set and she leads the team with 159 total digs and 10 aces. Addy Benjamin has 18 blocks. Katie Baird has 87 kills and a hit percentage of .296. Mary Marusza has totaled 202 assists.

Noting the Golden Eagles: Clarion is coming off of a solid season, winning 22 games then defeating Shippensburg University and falling to Wheeling in the NCAA Tournament in 2018. The Golden Eagles have won at least 20 games in six of the last seven seasons, and they've only missed the NCAA Division II Tournament twice since 2010. This season, Clarion has already lost to Davenport, Saginaw Valley State and No. 19 Hillsdale and the Golden Eagles won just two sets throughout those three games. Alexa Cundy is 24th in the nation and second in the PSAC with 10.85 assists per set and she has 293 assists. Julia Holden is at the top of the team with 107 kills and nearly four kills per set. Chrissy Cotton has 12 aces while Aubrey Wrona has 11 on a team that already has 45 aces. Cotton also has 148 digs while Holly Pittman puts down a block per set and has 27 on the season.