This Week: The Notre Dame College volleyball team heads to West Virginia State University on Friday Oct. 20 at 7 p.m., before turning around to face the University of Charleston on Saturday Oct. 21 at 2 p.m.
 
Records: NDC enters the week at 6-10, including 4-3 in the Mountain East Conference, and tied for third in the MEC North Division. WV State sits atop the MEC South Division at 16-4, 7-1 MEC. UC maintains a 16-7 mark and 6-2 in the MEC, controlling the second spot in the MEC South Division.
 
Coaches Corner: Erica Kostelac takes over the Notre Dame College volleyball program in her first season as head coach. Hillary Hurley is in her first year as head coach of West Virginia State, as Tyler Kanelos heads Charleston's volleyball program in his third year.
 
Rankings: None of these teams are ranked according to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll.
 
Series History: Notre Dame is 4-7 all-time when facing West Virginia State, dating back to their first meeting in 2013 and including the Yellow Jackets straight set victory last season. NDC is 1-10 all-time when playing against Charleston, dating back to their first meeting in 2013, and including UC's pair of victories last year.
 
Noting the Falcons: Last week Notre Dame enjoyed the home court advantage, starting with a four-set victory on Tuesday over Salem. On Friday, NDC downed Glenville State in four sets, as freshman Sydney Bray tallied a career-high 25 kills, tied for the fifth-most in a match in program history. The Falcons rounded out the stellar week with a straight set win over Concord, ensuring a 4-0 start inside the Murphy Gymnasium for the second consecutive year.
 
Following an excellent week of play Bray claimed the Mountain East Conference Player of the Week award for the second time this season. The freshman has been outstanding for Notre Dame this season, leading the team and the conference in points per set (5.06) and kills per set (4.30), ranking ninth and 17^th in the country respectively. The Woodstock, Ga. native has totaled 258 kills on a .277 attack percentage (9^th MEC).
 
Samantha Comer offers support with 151 kills, ranking 10^th in the MEC at 3.21 kills per set. Freshman Lilliana Mook (82), senior Kelsie Palmer (75) and freshman Diamond Baker (62) round out the NDC offense.
 
Junior setter Jayme Zoeckler flashes a team-high 577 assists at 9.62 assists per set, ranking second in the MEC. The Trinity High School product also leads the team with 25 aces at 0.42 aces per set.
 
Defensively, junior libero Kiley Kalina ranks seventh in the league with 4.02 digs per set, totaling 237 on the year. She is joined by Bray (167), Zoeckler (151) and Comer (117) as Falcons North of 100 digs. At the net, the trio of Bray (37), Palmer (35) and Baker (28) lead the squad in blocks.
 
As a team, Notre Dame averages 12.0 kills per set on a .169 attack percentage, to go along with 11.2 assists per set, 15.6 digs per set, 1.6 aces per set and 1.6 blocks per set.
 
Noting the Yellow Jackets: Last week, West Virginia State went 2-1, beginning on Tuesday with a four-set defeat at Charleston. WVSU bounced back on Friday and Saturday, with a four-set win at Fairmont State, and a straight set victory at Frostburg State.
 
Diamond'Nique Young and Jacklyn Simms are the one-two punch on the WV State offense, posting 220 and 189 kills, respectively. Simms ranks third in the MEC at 3.91 kills per set and sixth in attack percentage at .294, while Young sits at fifth in kills per set (3.65) and fourth in attack percentage (.321). The duo ranks third (Simms) and fourth (Young) in points per set in the league.
 
Setter Kiersten Eggleton is third in the MEC with 9.21 assists per set, amassing 571 on the year.
 
On defense, Alex Darby anchors the team by posting the fourth-most digs per set in the conference at 4.69. At the net, Young (0.96) and Valnecia Wilder (0.87) both notch top-10 provisions in the MEC in blocks per set, as Young is sixth and Wilder is ninth.
 
As a whole, West Virginia State averages, 14.0 kills per set on a .272 attack percentage, to go with 12.7 assists per set, 16.0 digs per set, 1.7 aces per set and 2.1 blocks per set. The Yellow Jackets ranks 10^th in NCAA Division II in attack percentage and 12^th in kills per set.
 
Noting the Golden Eagles: Last week, Charleston defeated WV State on Tuesday in four sets, before traveling to Frostburg State to take out the Bobcats in five. The Golden Eagles then stumbled at Fairmont State on Saturday in five sets to conclude the week 2-1.
 
Pia Selke leads a trio of Golden Eagles with more than 200 kills on the year, as Selke boasts a team-high 238 kills on a .328 attack percentage, which is third in the MEC. Emma Shepherd (214) and Sage Bearnson (203) complete the UC trio, as setters Suzan Agterberg (364) and Maria Hernandez (216) facilitate the offense with 4.73 and 5.54 assists per set.
 
Defensively, Charleston is balanced with six players totaling over 100 digs as Chloe Fortner holds a team-high 193 digs. At the net, Reagan McLean flashes 0.93 blocks per set, tied for seventh in the MEC.
 
As a unit, Charleston averages 12.6 kills per set on a .233 attack percentage, to go with 11.7 assists per set, 14.3 digs per set, 2.1 aces per set and 1.7 blocks per set.