CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Notre Dame College volleyball team (6-12, 4-5 MEC) rounded out their weekend road swing with a straight set loss at the University of Charleston (18-7, 7-2 MEC) on Saturday afternoon.
The contest started back-and-forth as NDC led 10-8, before UC jumped in front 14-10 with a 6-0 run. Following a 3-0 Falcon spurt (18-15 UC), the Golden Eagles claimed seven of the final eight points in the set to win 25-16.
The second set featured a rollercoaster with Charleston leading 11-3 early. However, Notre Dame battled and secured 15 of the next 20 points to leap ahead 18-16. Several kills and service aces from
Kelsie Palmer,
Lilliana Mook,
Sydney Bray,
Jayme Zoeckler and
Samantha Comer fueled the Falcon run. Next, UC responded with a 6-1 run to regain a 22-19 advantage. NDC continued to fight with a 4-1 burst to knot the frame at 23-23. Despite, fending off a pair of set points, Notre Dame fell in the second set 27-25.
Charleston carried the momentum into the third set, using a pivotal 13-4 run to claim the frame 25-17.
The Notre Dame College offense was paced by Bray and Comer's team-high eight kills, as Mook turned in six and Palmer tallied five.
Zoeckler dished out a game-high 23 assists for the team, as the Trinity High School product owns 1,847 career dimes, 25 shy of tying Rachelle Pragg (1990-93) for sixth in NDC program history.
Defensively, Mook totaled a game-high nine kills, alongside Bray, Zoeckler and libero
Kiley Kalina with six apiece. Kalina is seated 10
th in NDC program history for career digs with 1,095, as the Smithville, Ohio native is five away from tying Cristin Brown (2008-10) for ninth on the program's all-time leaderboard.
As a team, Notre Dame posted 29 kills on a .074 attack percentage, to go with 27 assists, 34 digs, five aces and four blocks.
The Notre Dame College volleyball team will be back in action on Tuesday Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. when the Falcons return home to host West Liberty University.
