SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – A statement win inside Murphy Gymnasium for the Notre Dame College volleyball team (8-13, 6-6 MEC) on Tuesday evening, as the NDC Falcons dominated Fairmont State University (15-13, 7-7 MEC) in straight sets. Junior Jayme Zoeckler tied the NDC program with 42 assists in a three-set match.
 
"This is absolutely a statement win," said head coach Erica Kostelac confidently. "We came into this game just focusing on our side. We have our brief scout of the other team, but we have to nail our offense, our defense, our systems and make adjustments as we go. We have very specific block systems and very specific defensive systems, but we are able to adjust on the fly and that's what makes this program great and the girls have been listening very, very well."
 
The contest began as a back-and-forth battle as the score was tied 11 times until the board read 12-12. With NDC trailing 17-14, the Falcons claimed the next four points to soar in front 18-17 as Kiley Kalina produced a pair of service aces. Notre Dame grabbed four of the final five points in the stanza, cemented by a Sydney Bray kill, 25-22.
 
The second set began like the first, as 10 ties were exchanged as the two sides dueled to 13-13. NDC used a pivotal 4-0 spurt, aided by a Kelsie Palmer kill and Bray block, to move ahead 21-16. Lilliana Mook gifted Notre Dame a set point with a kill, as the Falcons took set two following an FSU service error, 25-21.
 
NDC carried the momentum into the third set, jumping to a 5-1 advantage as Samantha Comer generated three kills in the run. Next, Fairmont State clawed the contest back to 7-7 following a 6-2 run. However, Notre Dame anchored down for an 8-2 scoring spree, highlighted by three consecutive Kalina aces, to command the frame 15-8. With NDC ahead 18-10, FSU edged the contest back to 19-16 Notre Dame, after a 6-1 run. The NDC Falcons dug deep to close out the contest, posting four of the final five points and punctuated by a Mook kill to deliver head coach Erica Kostelac and the Notre Dame College volleyball team a statement win, 25-18.
 
Notre Dame was led by Bray's game-high 13 kills, alongside Comer and Mook with 10 apiece. Palmer added seven kills, while Diamond Baker flashed four as Zoeckler set up the offense with a game-high 42 assists, tied for the most in a three-set match in NDC program history, including the most since Paige Staudacher owned 42 dimes on Nov. 15, 2019 at Frostburg State.
 
When asked about the record-setting night, Zoeckler said, "We talked before the game Coach Kathleen [Egan] told me to run tempo with my hitters and they also told me to feed Sydney [Bray] because she is just a powerhouse and she's the one who is mainly getting me those assists, so props to her."
 
On defense, Kalina and Comer registered a team-high 10 digs a piece, as Comer totals her fourth double-double this season. Kalina added a career-high five service aces with the performance. Bray (9), Mook (8) and Zoeckler (8) aided in the backline as Bray also touted a game-high three blocks.
 
As a team, Notre Dame boasted 45 kills on a .231 attack percentage, to go along with 45 assists, 48 digs, nine aces and four blocks. In addition, 45 assists are tied for the third-most by the team in a three-set match in program history, including the most since 2019. Fairmont State showed 30 kills on a .207 attack percentage, to go along with 29 assists, 42 digs, four aces and five blocks.
 
"We knew that we wanted to beat them and we should have beaten them the first time," mentioned Zoeckler postgame when asked about the narrow five-set loss at Fairmont State earlier this season. "And this whole time, from the last time we played them until now, we have worked on fun and focus. That is Coach K's [Kostelac] big thing, is we can't have fun unless we are focused. So that is what we are talking about the entire game, every huddle we talked about it, and it definitely paid off."
 
"We have been working tirelessly on figuring out balance between fun and focus with this group," stated Kostelac with a smile postgame. "We have been hounding them, you have to have the focus, you have to have the vocals, if you want to have the fun. Tonight was the perfect example of that. We played absolutely fantastic, we have been working on really pushing up these first contact balls, so that we can use our offense. We have a fantastic offense, we have huge, huge hitters, we have big arms, we have smart shots, but we can't use it if we are out of system all of the time. So we have really been pushing to get in system as much as we can, and pushing Jayme [Zoeckler] hard to keep that tempo, and she played fantastic tonight, they all played fantastic tonight. But Jayme especially, she tied a program record for assists in a three-set match. Jayme has been working really hard and making good decisions."
 
The Notre Dame College volleyball team will be back in action on Friday Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. as the Falcons travel to Frostburg State University.