SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Inside a deafening Murphy Gymnasium, the Notre Dame College volleyball team (10-14, 7-7 MEC) produced one of the biggest wins in program history, topping Wheeling University (21-7, 11-2 MEC) on Senior Night in a thrilling and action-packed five-set match. The win marks NDC's first over WU in program history, and it snaps the Cardinals 13 match-unbeaten streak, which included 38 consecutive sets won.
 
"Tonight was senior night, we really wanted to play hard for Kelsie [Palmer]," stated head coach Erica Kostelac. "I told the girls, this could be our last game, and it could have been depending on how the tournament seeding worked out. We kept pounding them, every single step of tonight… 'Are you locked in? And if you haven't already locked in then you need to do that now, this could be our last game of the year you need to play like it.' So partially that and playing hard for Kelsie, she is the sweetest girl in the whole wide world, so just really making it a memorable night for her. And she came up huge, she hit .500, with 12 kills, no errors on 24 attempts…. That is a phenomenal number, especially for a middle."
 
Notre Dame started the match with a bang, claiming the first three points by way of kills from Samantha Comer, Kelsie Palmer and Sydney Bray. With the contest knotted at 7-7, NDC posted the next six points to move ahead 13-7. With the Falcons ahead 16-10, Wheeling clawed the match back to 17-16 NDC, following a 6-1 run. However, Notre Dame anchored down to earn the set one victory, cemented by a Bray block, 25-22.
 
Despite, Wheeling jumping to a 5-1 lead in set two, the Falcons remained clam and produced the next seven points to leap ahead 8-5 as Lilliana Mook owned three kills in the run. The Cardinals pulled the set back 12-12, before Notre Dame generated another run. This time a 6-1 Falcon run capped off by a Kiley Kalina service ace gifted Notre Dame an 18-13 edge. The Falcons polished off the second set with six consecutive points (25-17), including back-to-back kills from Mook and Bray to deliver a 2-0 set lead.
 
Wheeling once again opened an early lead in set three, 4-0. WU was able to grow their advantage to 16-9, before Notre Dame applied the pressure. The Falcons claimed a seven of the next nine points to pull within two, 18-16. However, the Cardinals claimed seven the last 11 points in the frame, 25-20.
 
The fourth set began back-and-forth with NDC owning a narrow 9-8 lead. Next, Wheeling went on an 11-3 spurt to control the set at 19-12. The Falcons battled by exchanging points with WU over the remainder of the stanza, but Wheeling forced a winner-take-all fifth set, 25-17.
 
Determined to secure the program defining victory, Notre Dame rose to the occasion in the fifth set, including soaring to a 9-2 lead, fueled by seven Falcon kills. Wheeling continued to fight, pulling the frame back to 10-7 NDC after a 5-1 run. However, the Falcons buried the Cardinals in the end, posting five of the final seven points, including the match-sealing kill from Comer (15-10).
 
"First set we came out with the fire, we were just ready to work so hard and we showed up big. That was a fantastic set. Yeah, we started a little slow in the second, but we turned it around very quickly. We just knew, 'Don't give up, because if this is the last game of the year, you can't get down because you don't have time for that. If Wheeling has a phenomenal kill, then you move on right away, it is one point.' But we really wanted to focus on that first contact, that is why we got down in the third and fourth. Our blocking got a little rocky, the systems that we run we focus hard on that… But once we re-locked in on blocking, serve and receive and first contact, then we are able to anything and beat any team if we play like that."
 
"It was super emotional, definitely a lot of tears, but lots of happy things too," said NDC's lone senior Kelsie Palmer with a smile postgame. "Basically, in the first and second set we talk about how this a new game, zero to zero every set. But I think that we played calm and had a great time."
 
On the night Notre Dame totaled 68 assists and 71 kills, the second-most and tied fourth-most in program history, including the best marks since NDC posted 72 kills and 70 assists at Fairmont State on Oct. 3 this season. Prior to this year, Notre Dame had never produced 65 or more assists in a match, and the Falcons had not eclipsed 70 kills since totaling 73 at Carlow on Oct. 19, 2010.
 
Several Falcons contributed to the historic night, led by Bray and Mook with a game-high 18 kills apiece. Comer and Palmer added 12 kills each, as Mook registered a new career-high, while Palmer posted a season-high. In addition, Palmer flashed a game-high .500 attack percentage.
 
Setter Jayme Zoeckler facilitated the Falcons with a game-high 54 assists, as the Trinity High School product is now fourth on the NDC program leaderboard with 2,099 career dimes, surpassing Chandler Mass from 2011-12.
 
Kalina added a career-high 10 assists, and a game-high 17 digs for her first career double-double. Zoeckler added 15 digs, posting her team-leading 11^th double-double. In addition, Mook and Comer grabbed 14 digs apiece for their first and fifth double-doubles of the campaign.
 
At the net, Bray blocked a team-high four Cardinal attacks, alongside Palmer and Zoeckler with three each.
 
In the service game, Notre Dame dominated Wheeling with seven aces to zero, as Comer boasted a career-high four.
 
As a whole Notre Dame owned 71 kills on a .245 attack percentage, to go with 68 assists, 73 digs, seven aces and 12 blocks. Wheeling owned 63 kills on a .234 attack percentage, to go with 60 assists, 76 digs, zero aces and 11 blocks.
 
The win moves Notre Dame to 7-1 inside Murphy Gymnasium, their highest winning percentage (.875) inside The Murph since going 9-1 (.900) back in 2007.
 
When asked about being 7-1 on the home court this season, Palmer mentioned, "Definitely the fans and the energy in the small gym that we have. I think that everyone shows up when it is game day at home, the players, coaches and the fans, so it is just super exciting to play in such a small gym that we have."
 
"This team has a lot of potential," mentioned Kostelac happily. "I am excited to see where the [Mountain East Conference] Tournament goes… I think we are finally starting to figure out what do we need to do to be successful. We learned that through thick and thin this year. We have had a rollercoaster of a season. But when the girls lock in and when they follow the systems and work their hardest… Then we can just play and just be us, and that makes it a ton of fun. So really, really big night, apparently that's the first time we have beaten Wheeling, I didn't even know that. But that is huge and we are more than capable of beating any team and we showed that."
 
The Notre Dame College volleyball team will be back in action on Thursday Nov. 16 for the annual Mountain East Conference Tournament with an opponent, location and time to be determined.