This Week: The Notre Dame College volleyball team will host Fairmont State University on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m., before traveling to Wheeling University on Friday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.
 
Records: NDC begins the week at 12-16, including 6-6 inside the Mountain East Conference, to currently place themselves in seventh place. It is worth noting that the top eight teams receive a bid into the MEC Tournament beginning in two weeks. FSU sits at 23-4 (9-3 MEC) and in a tie for third in the MEC. Lastly, WU holds an 18-7 (11-1 MEC) record and are tied for first place in the conference.
 
Coaches Corner: Riley Coleman and Kathleen Egan are co-head coaches of the Notre Dame College volleyball program, holding a career record of 7-6. Travis Hinkle heads the Fairmont State volleyball team with a 44-14 record. Christy Benner is the head coach of Wheeling with a 662-145 career mark.
 
Rankings: None of these teams are ranked according to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Poll.
 
Series History: Notre Dame is 4-20 all-time since 2011 against Fairmont State, including FSU's 3-1 victory back on Sept. 23. NDC is 0-19 when facing Wheeling since 2013, including WU's 3-1 victory back on Sept. 30.
 
Noting the NDC Falcons: Last week, NDC went 2-1, beginning with a 3-0 loss at West Liberty. On Friday, the Falcons bounced back and hung on to a 3-2 victory at Glenville State. NDC rounded out the week on Saturday, with a 3-1 victory at Concord. Sophomores Samantha Comer and Caris Cross marked new career-highs in the match. Comer totaled 24 kills (7^th most NDC program history), while Cross dished out 56 assists (5^th most NDC program history).
 
For the season, senior Kaye Dregalla has paced the NDC offense with 247 kills. Comer follows suit by leading the team in kills per set (2.88) as she has amassed 179 kills on the year. Middle blockers Carli Derda and Ryleigh Ronald clock in at 164 and 161 kills, respectively.
 
Sophomore Jayme Zoeckler has been the team's primary setter with 647 assists. Zoeckler ranks fourth in the MEC with 8.29 assists per set. Cross has also seen work at setter lately, posting 158 assists at 7.18 assists per set.
 
Sophomore Kiley Kalina leads the NDC defense with 490 digs, tied for the 11^th most in NCAA Division II. Kalina boasts 4.76 digs per set which is third in the MEC.
 
Kalina is joined by sophomore Grace Smotek and junior Ellie Schenk at 238 and 237 digs, respectively.
 
Derda and Ronald control the net for Notre Dame with 86 and 84 blocks respectively on the season.
 
As a team, Notre Dame College flashes 11.3 kills per set on a .168 hit percentage, to go with 10.2 assists per set, 16.8 digs per set, 1.8 blocks per set and 1.5 aces per set. NDC ranks eighth amongst NCAA Division II with 1,744 digs on the season.
 
Noting the FSU Falcons: Last week, Fairmont State went 1-2, beginning with a 3-0 loss at Wheeling. The Falcons responded with a 3-1 victory on Friday at West Virginia State. Keara Lewis totaled a game-high 23 kills in the match. FSU's week concluded with a straight set loss at Charleston.
 
Leading the Fairmont State offense this season has been Lewis with 266 kills at 3.33 kills per set, ranking sixth in the MEC. Lewis is joined by Nyla Birch (235) and Joey Borelle (224) as the other Falcons north of 200 kills this year.
 
Fairmont State deploys a pair of setters in Lauren Albrecht (491) and Kelsie Dangerfield (377) who lead the team in assists.
 
Bryce Knapp anchors the FSU backline with 442 digs at 4.80 digs per set. Knapp ranks second in the conference in digs per set.
 
The duo of Emma Ludwig and Amelia Moore control the net for Fairmont State as they both post north of one block per set. Ludwig ranks second in the MEC and 22^nd in the country with 1.16 blocks per set. Moore joins her with 1.10 blocks per set, tied for fifth in the MEC.
 
As a whole. Fairmont State has generated 13.4 kills per set on a .227 hit percentage, to go with 12.3 assists per set, 16.7 digs per set, 2.5 blocks per set and 1.8 aces per set. Lastly, FSU ranks 10^th in country in blocks per set.
 
Noting the Cardinals: Last week, Wheeling extended their winning streak to four straight after going 3-0. On Tuesday, Wheeling dismantled Fairmont State in straight sets, Allonda Watkins led the game with 14 kills. On Friday, Mady Winters paced the match with 13 kills during the 3-0 victory at WV Wesleyan. Closing out the week, Wheeling defeated Davis & Elkins in straight sets.
 
WU features a potent offense with three players featured in the top 10 for hitting percentage in the MEC. Allonda Watkins ranks second (.374), Mady Winters is third (.373) and Lexi Smith is seated eighth (.302) as all three Cardinals are above .300 on the year.
 
Tylah Yoemans leads the team in kills (310) and ranks third in the MEC with 3.78 kills per set.
 
Karly Niesen benefits from the WU attack by posting 11.52 assists per set, tops in the MEC and fourth in the country.
 
Four Cardinals highlight a balanced defense for WU, with Riley Kindall leading the flock at 214 digs. Chylyn Pate (204), Niesen (201) and Berit Jones (200) also post at least 200 digs on the year.
 
Winters and Watkins offer defense at the net with 1.15 and 1.09 blocks per set, ranking them third and fifth in the MEC, respectively.
 
As a unit, Wheeling has tallied 14.1 kills per set on a .291 hit percentage, to go with 13.1 assist per set, 15.6 digs per set, 2.6 blocks per set and 1.0 aces per set. Lastly, WU ranks top 10 nationally in blocks per set (t-2^nd), hitting percentage (3^rd), assists per set (8^th) and kills per set (10^th).