This week: After a busy start to the Fall 2021 season and a week-long break, the Notre Dame College volleyball team will begin Mountain East Conference play this week when the Falcons travel to West Liberty on Tuesday Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. Notre Dame will then host their first home match of the season on Friday October 1 at 7 p.m. in Murphy Gymnasium when Fairmont State comes to town. A quick turnaround to Saturday October 2 at 2 p.m. when Frostburg State also makes their way to the Murphy Gymnasium to play the Falcons. Friday will mark NDC's first home contest since March 2.
 
Records: NDC enters MEC play with a 9-6 start to the season after dropping their most recent game. WLU will also begin MEC play this week and enter at 9-7 after dropping their last two games. Fairmont State enters this week at 9-4 after losing their most recent match. Fairmont State will play Wheeling on Tuesday before facing Notre Dame. Lastly, Frostburg State enters the week at 3-9 after winning their last two games. Frostburg will have two matches against Alderson Broaddus and Wheeling before the showdown with Notre Dame.
 
Coaches Corner: Hannah Watson and Anthony Mezacapa are in their first season as Co-Head Coach for NDC and they carry a 9-6 record with them into the week. Riley Schenk is in her second season with West Liberty and carries a 16-10 record overall into the week. Travis Hinkle is in his first season with Fairmont State following a three-year stint with the Notre Dame College Falcons. Friday marks the  return to South Euclid for Hinkle, who is 9-4 in his first season. Frostburg State is coached by Kylie Heyne who is 3-19 in her first two seasons as head coach.
 
Rankings: None of these teams are ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll.
 
Series History: Notre Dame is 7-11 all-time against West Liberty since 2011. The Falcons are 4-17 all-time when playing Fairmont State since 2011. Moreover, NDC is an undefeated 4-0 against Frostburg State dating back to 2019.
 
Noting the Falcons: After one game in the last seven days, NDC has rested and rejuvenated in time for MEC regular season play. Last Tuesday Notre Dame traveled to Edinboro where they lost in straight sets to a strong Fighting Scots team. The weekend before the Falcons split their four matches at the MEC/PSAC Crossover with wins over Slippery Rock and Bloomsburg, but losses to Millersville and Clarion.
 
For Notre Dame on offense, Kelsie Palmer and Kaye Dregalla are the clear-cut leaders on the offensive attack with a team-high 152 and 142 kills, respectively. The duo is the only two players on the team that are north of 100 kills on the season. McKenzie Andrix (338) and Jayme Zoeckler (190) rotate as the main setters for NDC with the two leading the team in assists by a wide margin. Adding some flavor with their serves has been Katie Richardson and Grace Smotek who tally at least 20 service aces apiece at 21 and 20 respectively, nearly double that of the next Falcon.

For Notre Dame on defense, Amelia Kaeberlein leads the team as the main libero with 223 digs. Smotek and Andrix have added 193 and 134 digs respectively to aid Kaeberlein in the back line. Freshman Kiley Kalina has stepped up in a big way for Notre Dame during the recent absence of Kaeberlein due to injury. Kalina as been operating as the Falcons interim libero and has posted 111 digs. Her 4.44 digs per set are second only to Kaeberlein on the team. Carli Derda in the middle has made life difficult on the opposition as she leads the Falcons with 25 total blocks. Derda and Richardson each have a team-high eight solo blocks, as Richardson (18) and Palmer (15.5) also added significant total blocks for the Falcons.
 
On average, NDC posts 11.9 kills per set, 11.3 assists per set, 1.6 service aces per set, 18.4 digs per set and 1.5 blocks per set. On the other hand, the competition averages 11.4 kills per set, 10.6 assists per set, 1.7 service aces per set, 17.4 digs per set, and 1.4 blocks per set.
 
Noting the Hilltoppers: West Liberty has lost their last two matches entering this week. WLU last played on Sept. 21 when they lost to Tiffin 3-1. The weekend before, the Hilltoppers were the host school in the MEC/PSAC Crossover where they split the weekend with wins over Millersville (3-0) and Bloomsburg (3-0), but losses to Slippery Rock (3-2) and Clarion (3-0).
 
WLU is led by Madison Clayton who has a team high 145 kills on the season and a hit percentage of .306. On average, the Hilltoppers post 11.0 kills per set, 10.3 assists per set, 2.0 service aces, 16.9 digs per set and 1.8 blocks per set. Stacking up against the competition, the opponents on average have 12.1 kills per set, 11.2 assist per set, 1.4 service aces per set, 16.9 digs per set and 1.5 blocks per set.
 
Noting the Falcons: Fairmont State will play after a week off and a loss to Shepherd back on Sept. 21, 3-2. The weekend prior, the team won three of four matches at the MEC/PSAC Crossover. The Falcons posted wins over Bloomsburg (3-0), Slippery Rock (3-2) and Millersville (3-0), while falling to Clarion (3-2).
 
FSU is led by a duo of Amelia Moore and Julia DiPaola who have 114 and 112 kills respectively to lead the Falcon's attack. Moore shows an impressive team-high .334 hit percentage to go along with her team leading kill total. On average, the Falcons have 12.4 kills per set, 11.4 assists per set, 1.4 service aces per set, 19.0 digs per set and 1.7 blocks per set. In contrast, their opposition grabs 10.7 kills per set, 9.9 assists per set, 1.2 service aces per set, 16.8 digs per set and 1.8 blocks per set.
 
Noting the Bobcats: Fresh off back to back wins this past Saturday Sept. 25, Frostburg State is in a groove after winning three of their last four matches, totaling their only three wins of the season. This past weekend the wins came against Bowie State (3-0) and Kutztown (3-2). In addition, their first win of the season on Sept. 18 against Lock Haven (3-2), was the programs first win since Nov. 9 2019, snapping a 21-match losing streak. This is a dangerous Bobcats team who has played their best lately, a team that cannot be overlooked.

Beverly Braun is the leader on Frostburg State with 148 kills and a .157 hit percentage. Braun has started to click as of late by posting a season-high with 19 kills against Bowie State only to improve on that mark to 26 in the second match against Kutztown. Braun has aided the averages of FSU to 10.9 kills per set, 10.0 assists per set, 1.4 service aces per set, 17.9 digs per set and 1.3 blocks per set. In contrast, their opposition has generated 12.4 kills per set, 11.5 assists per set, 1.9 service aces per set, 17.5 digs per set and 1.7 blocks per set.