SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Inside a rocking Murphy Gymnasium, the Notre Dame College volleyball team (6-13, 4-6 MEC) took on West Liberty University (19-6, 8-2 MEC) on Tuesday afternoon. Despite a hard-fought battle, the Falcons fell to the Hilltoppers in four sets.
 
West Liberty raced to an early 14-4 lead before Notre Dame rattled off seven of the next eight points to pull to 15-11. Grace Smotek, Diamond Baker and Jayme Zoeckler posted kills to fuel the run. However, WLU claimed the seven of the following eight points to gather a 22-12 edge before taking the frame 25-16.
 
The Falcons fortunes turned in the second set, as NDC earned a 6-2 lead with three kills by Samantha Comer, and an ace by Baker highlighted the run. Next, WLU pulled the contest to a tie at 11-11, before grabbing a 20-17 lead. Notre Dame anchored down at the end of the set, generating eight of the final nine of points to soar ahead and win the frame 25-21. Lilliana Mook produced a pair of kills, alongside aces from Sydney Bray and Smotek during the pivotal Falcon run.
 
The third set began back-and-forth as there were eight different ties until the scoreboard read 12-12. Next, WLU held a narrow 19-18 lead after back-to-back Falcon points. The Hilltoppers went on to nab six of the last eight points in the set, to win 25-20.
 
Notre Dame utilized five straight points at the beginning of set four to hold an 8-3 advantage. However, the fourth set was a rollercoaster as West Liberty knotted the contest at 9-9. NDC responded with the next four points, aided by WLU errors to move back ahead 13-9. The Hilltoppers once again worked their way back into the set with an 8-1 spurt to lead 18-15. Battling until the very end, Bray, Comer and Mook produced kills during a 6-2 NDC run to post a set point for the Falcons (24-23). In the end, West Liberty scored four of the final five points to win a thrilling fourth set, 27-25.
 
Comer paced NDC on offense with a game-high 19 kills, alongside Bray with 10, and Mook with eight.
 
Zoeckler set up the Falcons with a team-high 38 assists, as the Trinity High School product totals 1,908 career assists, now sixth on the NDC all-time leaderboard.
 
Defensively, both Bray and Zoeckler registered their ninth double-doubles of the year with 19 and 10 digs, respectively. In addition, Kiley Kalina collected 16 digs, as the junior from Smithville, Ohio totals 1,101 career digs, now ninth in NDC program history.
 
At the net, Baker tied a career-high by swatting a team-high five Hilltopper attacks. Kelsie Plamer, Comer and Zoeckler also blocked multiple attacks.
 
As a team, Notre Dame totaled 52 kills on a .120 attack percentage, to go along with 48 assists, 71 digs, five aces and 10 blocks.
 
The Notre Dame College volleyball team will be back in action on Friday Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. when Davis & Elkins College enters Murphy Gymnasium.