SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Notre Dame College volleyball team (9-13, 3-3 MEC) entertained West Virginia State University (19-1, 6-0 MEC) on Friday evening. Despite a packed Murphy Gymnasium, the Yellow Jackets prevailed at the end of the night, 3-0.
 
The Falcons held a narrow 6-3 lead in the first set after freshman Ryleigh Ronald put down a kill. WVSU would quickly tie match at 7-7, before taking a 12-11 lead. The Yellow Jackets used a 9-2 run to jump in front 19-13, with NDC needing an answer. They did so with a 6-2 run, moving the score back to a two-point deficit (21-19). However, West Virginia State was able to polish off the set 25-20.
 
To begin set two, West Virginia State claimed a small 4-1 lead. The early three-point lead by the Yellow Jackets would turn out to be the difference maker in the set, by winning 25-21. The two sides battled back and forth for the entire frame, but the difference was the first five points.
 
In the third set, WV State held an early 9-3 advantage, before taking over an 18-8 lead. Notre Dame fought back during the latter half of the stanza, but WVSU won 25-14.
 
The Falcons were led offensively by junior Brittany Miller who turned in nine kills, followed by both senior Carli Derda and junior Kelsie Palmer with six, and senior Blaire Barr with five. Derda, Palmer and Barr all played strong offensively with hit percentages of .500, .444 and .357, respectively.
 
Sophomore Jayme Zoeckler facilitated the NDC offense with 31 assists in the match.
 
On defense, sophomore libero Kiley Kalina logged a team-high eight digs, while Ronald blocked a game-high three attacks.
 
The Falcons finished with 35 kills on a .181 hit percentage, to go with 33 assists, 27 digs, five blocks and three aces.
 
The Notre Dame College volleyball team will be back in action Saturday Oct. 8 at 1 p.m. when the University of Charleston comes to town.