This Week: The Notre Dame College volleyball team enters the final stretch of Mountain East Conference play, as the Falcons host Fairmont State on Tuesday Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. Next, NDC will travel to Frostburg State University on Friday Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. and will drive to West Virginia for trip to Salem University, on Nov. 4 at 12 p.m.

Schedule Change: The Falcons were originally scheduled to play Salem on Nov. 10, but the match has been moved up one weekend to Nov. 4.
 
Records: NDC begins the week at 7-13, including 5-6 in the MEC, to maintain sixth place in the Mountain East Conference. Fairmont State owns a 15-12 (7-4 MEC) mark, currently in fifth place in the MEC. Frostburg State sits at 14-12 (4-6 MEC) to be in seventh place in the conference. Note, the top eight teams in the MEC receive a berth into the MEC Tournament. Salem enters with a record of 5-19.
 
Coaches Corner: Erica Kostelac takes over the Notre Dame College volleyball program in her first season as head coach. Travis Hinkle is in his third year with Fairmont State, while Kylie Heyne is in her fourth season at Frostburg State. Matt Carpenter leads the Salem Tigers.
 
Rankings: None of these teams are ranked according to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll.
 
Series History: NDC is 4-22 all-time when facing Fairmont State, dating back to their first meeting in 2011 and including FSU's five-set victory back on Oct. 3. Notre Dame is 8-1 all-time against Frostburg State, dating back to their first meeting in 2019 and including the Falcons straight set victory in South Euclid, Ohio back on Sept. 29. The Falcons are 6-0 against Salem, winning every matchup since 2017. NDC defeated the Tigers, 3-1, in the Murphy Gym, on Oct. 10.
 
Noting the NDC Falcons: Last week, Notre Dame went 1-1 on the home court, pushing the Falcons record inside Murphy Gym to an impressive 5-1 mark this season. On Tuesday, Samantha Comer had 19 kills and Sydney Bray grabbed 19 digs but NDC fell in a four-set thriller to West Liberty. On Friday, the Falcons rebounded by setting the program record for attack percentage (.557) as NDC efficiently dismantled Davis & Elkins in straight sets.
 
Freshman Sydney Bray highlights the Notre Dame College offense with 3.97 kills per set, leading the team and the Mountain East Conference, while ranking 24^th in NCAA Division II. The Woodstock Ga. native posts 4.69 points per set, the top mark on the team and in the MEC, while being 19^th in DII. Additionally, the Etowah High School product ranks 10^th in the MEC with a .257 attack percentage.
 
Junior Samantha Comer flashes 3.22 kills per set and 3.63 points per set, both ninth-best in the MEC. Lilliana Mook, Kelsie Palmer and Diamond Baker also provide support for the Falcons, as junior Jayme Zoeckler sets up the team with 9.47 assists per set, ranking second in the MEC. Zoeckler now owns 1,933 career assists, sixth on the NDC all-time leaderboard. In addition, Zoeckler ranks fourth in the MEC with 0.47 aces per set.
 
Defensively, junior libero Kiley Kalina anchors the team with 3.83 digs per set, seventh in the MEC. The Smithville, Ohio native has totaled 1,124 career digs, eighth on the NDC all-time list. Kalina (276) is joined by Bray (208), Zoeckler (173) and Comer (143) as Falcons north of 100 digs on the year. At the net, Palmer (43), Bray (40) and Baker (39) lead the team in blocks.
 
On the year, Notre Dame averages 12.0 kills per set on a .171 attack percentage, to go along with 11.2 assists per set, 1.7 aces per set, 15.2 digs per set and 1.6 blocks per set.
 
Noting the FSU Falcons: Last week, Fairmont State was swept by Wheeling on the road Tuesday. FSU responded defeating Concord (3-1) and Shaw (3-0) on Friday and Saturday at home.
 
Joey Borelle and Ellie Zuro power the FSU offense with 3.29 and 3.11 kills per set, ranking seventh and tenth in the MEC, respectively. In addition, Borelle is seventh in the league with 3.70 points per set. Fairmont State deploys a pair of setters in Jaianna Bouarouy (5.86) and Kelsie Dangerfield (4.01), as Bouarouy is seventh in the conference in assists per set.
 
Defensively, Josie Skinn highlights the FSU backline with 5.31 digs per set, tops in the MEC and 15^th in the country. Borelle (3.49) adds the ninth-best mark in the league, as Bouarouy (2.01), Dangerfield (2.06) and Jay Miller (1.86) offer additional support. At the net, Emma Ludwig is tied atop the MEC and tied 22^nd in the country with 1.16 blocks per set, while Natalie Zemba is ninth in the MEC at 0.94.
 
As a unit, Fairmont State averages, 12.3 kills per set on a .186 attack percentage, to go along with 11.5 assists per set, 1.4 aces per set, 17.6 digs per set and 2.3 blocks per set. The Falcons are 17^th in digs per set and 23^rd in blocks per set amongst NCAA DII.
 
Noting the Bobcats: Last week, Frostburg State extended their winning streak to five straight games as the Bobcats took out Salem in five-sets on Tuesday on the road, before returning home to topple Glenville State on Friday in straight sets.
 
Beverly Braun ranks third in the MEC with 4.14 points per set and sixth with 3.54 kills per set, totaling 336 kills this season to lead the Frostburg State offense. No other Bobcat has more than 175 kills, as Amanda Knieper, AJ Thompson and Maddie Lewis are other players north of 100 on the year. Hayley Delor is seated third in the conference with 9.13 assists per set as she sets up the Bobcats offensively.
 
Defensively, Fiona Medina Gonzalez owns the fourth-best mark in the MEC with 4.54 digs per set. She is joined by Delor and Braun at 2.99 and 2.42 digs per set.
 
As a whole, Frostburg State averages 11.6 kills per set on a .170 attack percentage, to go with 10.6 assists per set, 1.8 aces per set, 15.6 digs per set and 1.9 blocks per set.

Noting the Tigers: Last week, Salem fell during all three matches, extending their losing streak to nine straight contests. On Tuesday, the Tigers battled Frostburg State to five sets, before surrendering to Lock Haven and West Virginia Wesleyan in straight sets on back-to-back days (Thursday and Friday).

The Tigers are paced by a trio of players in Noemi Combi (190), Valentina Poti (155) and Nakyia Middleton (148). Poti paces the team with 2.67 kills per set, alongside Combi's 2.38 kills per set to lead the team. McKenzie Clyncke is the team's primary setter with 354 assists at 4.37 assists per set.

Defensively, Alayna Cox is sound with 322 digs at 3.98 digs per set. Cox is joined by four other Tigers in the back line who amass more than 100 digs. Middleton is far and away the top blocker on the team swatting 65 attacks at 0.84 blocks per set.

As a team, Salem averages 9.0 kills per set on a .087 attack percentage, to go along with 7.3 assists per set, 1.7 aces per set, 13.3 digs per set and 1.6 blocks per set.