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EAST LANSING, Michigan- Seeking a reversal of fortune from last weekend, the Hawks took on Notre Dame in the opening match of the Spartan Classic at Michigan State. But the luck of the Irish was with Notre Dame, who defeated Maryland Eastern Shore in straight sets (12-25, 20-25, 13-25) Friday afternoon. The Fighting Irish improved to 8-2 while the Hawks fell to 7-6.

Freshman Iva Vujosevic (Bar, Montenegro) narrowly missed a double-double with eight kills and eight digs. The outside hitter also led the Hawks in aces with a pair while converting 19 percent of her attacks.

On defense, sophomore Koya Sowells (Missouri City, Texas) recorded a match high 15 digs and senior Mere Serea (Suva, Fiji) helped on four of the Hawks' five blocks. Junior Kirstin Fink (Tucson, Arizona) assisted half of the team's kills with 12.

Notre Dame received a match high 14 kills and three aces from Sam Fry along with 14 digs from Ryann DeJarld.

The Irish led from first serve to set point in the opening frame, eventually winning by 13. Maryland Eastern Shore staged a comeback in the second set, as kills out of the gate by Serea and sophomore Zuzana Ondruskova (Bilovec, Czech Republic) helped the Hawks to an early lead. However, an 11-6 rally by Notre Dame proved too much to overcome and The Shore fell in the second set by five. Then the Irish made quick work of the Hawks with a 14-3 outburst to begin the third set, which went to Notre Dame, along with the match, by a 12 point margin.

Maryland Eastern Shore challenges DePaul at 5 p.m. in the second match of the Spartan Classic.