PHILIPPI, W.Va. – The Notre Dame College volleyball team (16-15, 7-9 MEC) went down to Alderson Broaddus University (6-17, 2-14 MEC) on Friday evening for their final regular season contest of 2021. This is the second meeting between the two sides after the Falcons bested the Battlers inside Murphy Gymnasium 3-0 back on Oct. 12. On this evening, AB jumped out to a 1-0 lead after commanding set one, however Notre Dame would respond by winning the final three sets to claim the match, 3-1. The win moves NDC and rookie Co-Head Coaches Hannah Watson and Anthony Mezacapa over the .500 mark in their first season at the helm, an impressive first stint with the program.
 
In set one, Alderson Broaddus controlled the game from the start by jumping out to an 8-2 lead. NDC would respond with a 7-2 run to pull the set back to 11-10 Battlers. AB would polish off the first set with a 14-4 run, winning 25-14. In set two, NDC was determined to answer the haymaker by the Battlers, and did so with a 17-5 lead capped off by a 15-3 run. Grace Smotek would seal the door on set two with a kill and an NDC 25-17 set win. The third set would offer a back and forth start as the two sides dueled to 12-12. Notre Dame would then rattle off a 12-2 run and end the set with a Katie Richardson kill, 25-17. Alderson Broaddus began the fourth set with a kill, followed by both teams exchanging 4-1 runs as the sides played to 6-5 AB. NDC would then initiate an 8-3 run, stamped by a Kelsie Palmer kill putting NDC up 13-9. The Falcons would not look back, as NDC would promptly end the match at the hand of a Smotek service ace 25-16, following a 7-1 Falcon run.
 
On offense, Smotek led the Falcon attack with a match-high 11 kills. Kaye Dregalla (9), Palmer (7), Carli Derda (6), Blaire Barr (5), Richardson (4), Zoeckler (season-high 3), Brittany Miller (2), Ellie Schenk (1), Carly Emerson (1) and McKenzie Andrix (1) tallied the 50 total kills (.208 hit percentage) for Notre Dame on the evening. Assisting the NDC attackers was Zoeckler with a match-high 24 assists, followed by Andrix's 14, to generate 43 as a team.  Schenk (2), Smotek (1), Richardson (1) and Kaeberlein (1) posted the five service aces for Notre Dame on the evening.
 
On defense, Kaeberlein followed up her Tuesday evening record breaking performance with a match-high 33 digs tonight. The libero's 33 digs are tied for the fifth most digs in a four-set match in program history. As a team, the Falcons totaled 74 digs compared to AB's 68. At the net, Derda swatted a team-high five Battler attacks, while Richardson added four, Barr and Palmer totaled three each to post ten blocks as a team.
 
With their victory tonight, NDC is locked in as the seventh seed in next week's Mountain East Conference Tournament which starts on Thursday Nov. 18. Notre Dame will be matched up in the Quarterfinal round against the second seed in the MEC which is currently to be determined. The contest will be played at the higher seed's home court.