Dragon-slayers
Falcons clutch a victory from the jaws of defeat

Senior libero Debby Beatty collected 30 digs Wednesday against TU.	Freshman swatter Hailey Martin led the Falcon attack Wednesday, with 17 kills.

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Notre Dame volleyballers found themselves down, 14-9, in the fifth game of a tense battle with the Tiffin Dragons Wednesday night. The Blue & Gold, battling on their home court, turned away Tiffin on several sure kill attempts to earn an unlikely 3-2 win in their second home match of the season.

The Falcons and Dragons had dealt each other alternating blows throughout the evening, splitting four games - three of which by four points or less. But the fifth and deciding game went Tiffin's way early, as the Dragons built an 8-2 lead and then, seemingly, an insurmountable lead of 14-9.

At that point, NDC would dig deep on several occassions - literally. The Falcons backcourt came up with a string of hustling, off-balance digs, as NDC chipped away at the Dragons' lead.

The Falcons evened the score, at 14-14, and then capped off a seven-point run with back-to-back points to earn a come-from-behind victory, 16-14. The game scores were 29-31, 31-29, 30-22, 26-30, 16-14. NDC's total margin of victory in the five games was a paper-thin six points.

"The girls battled when things didn't go our way," said Head Coach Mark Ridley. "At a crucial point in the match, our defense, and the things we've worked on, came through."

Notre Dame (8-8) was led by Hailey Martin (Fr/Euclid, OH), who notched 17 kills. Julia Szabo (Sr/Lorain, OH) collected 12 kills. Debbie Beatty (Sr/Massillon, OH) picked up 30 digs on the night, including a couple key stops in the waning moments of the deciding game.

Brittany Kelly (So/Warren, OH) had four service aces and 48 assists for the Falcons, who travel to Houghton, New York, Saturday (Sep. 22) for a tri-match with Houghton (NY) and Carlow (PA). Both contests are conference match-ups, as Saturday sets the Falcons' American Mideast Conference season in motion.