WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Notre Dame College split the first day of the MEC/PSAC Crossover on Friday afternoon and evening. Millersville University got past the Falcons, 3-1, in the first match before NDC came back to take a 3-1 victory over Slippery Rock University.

In the first match of the day, Notre Dame jumped out to a fast start. An early 5-0 run put the Falcons ahead of Millersville, 8-3, and they would maintain a bit of a distance on the Marauders until later in the first set. MU would close the gap to one point, 23-22, before the Falcons put it away. NDC hit .318 in the first set.

The Falcons, again, built a large lead throughout the second set, using two separate runs of four points, or more. The Falcons led 19-11 before Millersville answered with a 6-0 run and then a 7-1 run to win by a score of 25-22.

The Marauders would close out the match with a 25-14 win in set three and a 25-20 victory in set four.

NDC did have solid individual performances in the first match. Freshman Grace Smotek finished with her second double-double of the year. She had 15 kills, a career-high, and 24 digs. Freshman Jayme Zoeckler had a career-high 25 assists. Junior Kaye Dregalla added 13 kills.

On the defensive side, junior Carli Derda posted a career-high eight blocks, which ranks fifth in a four-set match in program history. Sophomore Kelsie Palmer also had a career-high with six blocks. Sophomore Ellie Schenk totaled 17 digs.

In the first set of the second match, Slippery Rock outhit NDC 27.3-percent-to-20.9-percent and won 25-21. But that would be the only set that the Rock would outhit and beat the Falcons.

The second set featured two momentum shifting runs for NDC. An 8-0 run, that featured two kills by Derda and two aces by senior Katie Richardson, put NDC up 16-11. And a second 8-0 run gave Notre Dame the 25-14 win to tie the match at one.

Notre Dame took an early 4-1 lead in set three and aside from one tie, led all the way to the end, winning 25-17. SRU hit -.039 in the set.

Trailing 6-4 in the fourth set, another big run allowed NDC to coast to the finish. The Falcons put the next 10 points on the board, which included three kills by Dregalla, and NDC led 14-6. They would win the set, 25-16.

Freshman Kiley Kalina had a career-high 32 digs, which is seventh best in program history for a four-set match. Derda led the team, again, with five blocks and junior Blaire Barr had a season-high three blocks. Zoeckler had a career-high 15 digs. Smotek finished with four aces and the team totaled seven for the match.

NDC stays in West Liberty as they will take on Clarion and Bloomsburg tomorrow at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.