FREDERICK, Md.--The Hood College volleyball team (1-2) came up on the short end of a 3-1 decision (22-25, 25-23, 15-25, 21-25) to the visiting College of Notre Dame (Md.) Gators (1-0) Tuesday evening at Gambrill Gymnasium.

Hood trailed by as many as nine points in the first set (20-11), but used an 11-4 run and held off six Gator set points along the way to close to within 24-22. The Gators capitalized on a Blazer hitting error to capture the first set, 25-22.

In set number two, the lead changed hands five times before the Blazers made their move. Trailing 23-21, first-year Amy Hagerdon put down one of her team-high seven kills and classmate Laura Socks posted a solo block to knot the score at 23-23. The Blazers picked up two more blocks by Socks and senior Kristina Straub to give Hood its first set point. The Gators called timeout to set their defense but Socks had other ideas as she clinched the set for Hood with a kill to knot the match at 1-1.

In the third set, the Blazers and Gators were tied at 11-11 before CND closed the set with a 14-4 run, which featured three straight aces by Cory Santos.

The Blazers raced out of the gates in the fourth set, scoring the first five points. Later in the stanza, Hood used a pair of service aces by Hagerdon to take its biggest lead of the frame, 15-8, forcing Dame to call timeout. From there, the Gators outscored Hood 17-6 and clinched a 3-1 match win with a 25-21 win in the fourth set.

Morgan Huffer set up 19 Blazer kills and contributed nine digs while Socks finished with five total blocks and a pair of kills. Senior Chelsea Weaver led the defense with 18 digs and moved into seventh place all-time at Hood in that category.

The Blazers return to action Saturday when they battle Penn State University-Harrisburg and Immaculata University in a tri-match at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.