SOUTH EUCLID, OH – The Notre Dame College volleyball team hosted West Liberty University on Tuesday evening in the second meeting between the schools this season. The first meeting was back on Sept. 28 on the road when Notre Dame erased a two-set deficit to defeat WLU in a rollercoaster of a five-set match. On Tuesday however, the Hilltoppers got their revenge and downed the Falcons, 3-1.  
 
In the first set, Katie Richardson started out red hot with four kills en route to a 19-11 lead for NDC. WLU would respond with four straight points to push the score to 19-15. The Falcons would regain control and win four of the following five points, capped off by a Richardson solo block, to make the score 23-17. A West Liberty service error ended the set at 25-20 NDC. In the second set, it was West Liberty jumping out to a 10-5 lead, but Notre Dame would rebound and force the score to 17-16 Hilltoppers. A determined West Liberty team would ensure a set two victory by polishing the set off 25-19.

The third set offered a back and forth start before WLU took over after leading 17-15. The Hilltoppers claimed set three 25-19. In the fourth set, Notre Dame was on fire with an 8-3 lead after a Carli Derda kill forced a West Liberty timeout. The Hilltoppers would come out of the timeout resilient and rattled off a stretch of nine straight points a during the middle of the set, including 12 of 13 in a row to make the score a nearly insurmountable 19-11. Staring six points away from a loss, NDC would fight until the very end, battling the score to 21-18, before ultimately falling 25-19.
 
On offense, Richardson led all Falcons with a season-high 11 kills and a blazing .588 hit percentage. Kelsie Palmer, Brittany Miller and Blaire Barr each added eight kills, along with four other NDC Falcons to total 47 as a team (.141 hit percentage). Jayme Zoeckler continued her hot streak with a match-high 25 assists, followed by McKenzie Andrix with 12 to post 46 assists as a team. Richardson (2) and Ellie Schenk (1) tallied the only service aces for Notre Dame, compared to the seven posted by West Liberty.
 
On defense, Amelia Kaeberlein had a team-high 14 digs, followed ten other Falcons who recorded digs to the tune of 74 as a team. At the net, NDC blocked ten WLU attacks via Richardson (4), Derda (3), Miller (3), Palmer (3) and Barr (1).
 
Notre Dame College will be back in action on Thursday Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. when Concord University comes to town as a part of a busy week for the Falcons inside Murphy Gymnasium.