SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Mountain East Conference slate started on Friday for Notre Dame College and they started it in strong fashion with a 3-1 win over Fairmont State University. NDC improves to 2-0 at home and grabs their 10th win of the season in their 14th game, reaching double-digit wins seven games quicker than last season.

The first set remained close early. A Fairmont State kill tied the game at seven, before the NDC Falcons took off. A 9-1 run put Notre Dame ahead 16-8 and from there, the home team was able to win the set, 25-17. On Notre Dame's side, freshman Kaye Dregalla was attacking at a .750 clip after the first set. Not only was Notre Dame's offense working well, the defense caused problems as Fairmont State had a .000 hit percentage through the first set.

"The team is so energetic and welcoming that they hype me up so that I know I can do my job," Dregalla said. "We talk about bench points, when you get certain points and the bench goes crazy, and having that energy on the court and off the court helps."

Head coach Travis Hinkle was also very impressed with the energy from the bench.

"Our energy is definitely contagious for this team," he said. "This is about the fourth or fifth big match that we've had that I've had to credit our bench just for keeping the energy up and the momentum. Volleyball is a game of momentum and when you have a bench that doesn't worry about who is out there, they just want to support them, it makes a coach feel good."

Notre Dame grabbed a 7-2 lead to start the second set, before FSU called a timeout. Freshman Blaire Barr gave the Falcons three kills during the early run. NDC extended the lead to six, several times, but the FSU Falcons did not go away. After they cut the deficit to three, 16-13, Notre Dame would score the next four points, forcing FSU to take a timeout. Notre Dame won the set, 25-20, closing out the set on a 9-6 run. NDC had a hit percentage of .438 in the second set, finishing off 17 kills with just three attack errors.

Fairmont State responded in the third set with an incredible .529 hit percentage, committing zero attack errors and winning by a score of 25-13. They jumped ahead 6-5 and never gave the lead back to Notre Dame.

The momentum was still on the side of the road team in the fourth set, and Fairmont State jumped out to a 4-1 advantage. However, five of the next six points went in favor of the NDC Falcons. Notre Dame extended their lead to five points, 21-16, later in the match. Still a tight game, NDC closed it out and won, 25-21, with senior Paige Staudacher recording the final two kills, her only kills of the contest.

"There was a lot of adrenaline in the last couple points," said Staudacher. "Shout out to my assistant coach for telling me to do it [going for the kill instead of setting the ball]. She's very confident in me."

Dregalla put together 16 kills with a hit percentage of .359, while Barr knocked down 13 kills with just one error, a .500 hit percentage.

"Kaye [Dregalla] and Blaire [Barr] are both very special players," Hinkle said. They are both very intelligent for being freshman. They listen and react and know how to change it up or keep it the same."

Staudacher had 42 assists. After the match, she spoke about the amount of options that she has, especially the freshmen.

"It's awesome to have so many options," she mentioned. "The freshman are doing a really good job. It's nice having a lot more hitters who are aggressive and flexible."

On the defensive end, sophomore Katie Richardson recorded six blocks and senior Alexandra Kaeberlein totaled 18 digs.

"We take every game the same way," Hinkle said. "The most important thing is, we're a defensive first team. We have to make sure that our defense, as a team, is successful. I'm very fortunate that three of my defensive players are four-year players. They are used to my defense now and they bought into the process of it all."

For Fairmont State, Amelia Moore had 14 kills with a hit percentage of .323. Lilianna Kepler added 30 assists and Kelsey Moeller had 20 assists. Julia DiPaola and Bryce Knapp each recorded 19 digs.

Notre Dame is right back at it tomorrow with a double-header. The Falcons take on Frostburg State University, at noon, followed by a match with Salem University, at 4 p.m.