Oct. 23, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Yet again sophomore setter Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos H.S.) orchestrated a masterful attack, as the ninth-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s volleyball team (18-1, 8-0 BIG EAST) swept Georgetown (6-16, 2-7) 30-12, 30-22, 30-20 Sunday afternoon in the Joyce Center for its 11th consecutive victory in front of a crowd of 1,327. The Irish, which also used some huge blocking against the Hoyas, can now turn their attention toward next Saturday’s (2 p.m. EST/CDT) showdown with co-BIG EAST leader Louisville, which is ranked #6 and boasts a perfect 20-0 record.
Tarutis led the Irish offense to 54 kills (18.00 per game) – matching the second-highest total in a three-game match this year for ND – and just eight attack errors for a .393 attack percentage. Notre Dame’s three top hitting marks of the season have all come in the last eight days, and the Irish now sport a season attack percentage of .257. Just one month ago, head coach Debbie Brown juggled her lineup – including switching sophomore Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South H.S.) to outside hitter from libero and inserting senior co-captain Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.) into that spot – and that has resulted in huge improvements from the Notre Dame offense, which was hitting just .200 through the first eight matches. In the 11 tilts (all victories) since then, the Irish have hit over .230 in every contest but one, including six times above .300.
On Sunday, seven Notre Dame players had multiple kills, and all of them hit .320 or better. Leading the way was Stasiuk – who has raised her level of play of late – who had a match-high 14 kills and just one error for a .419 attack percentage. She has hit over .290 in each of the last five matches, including attack percentages over .345 in four in a row. Stasiuk also had 10 digs for her sixth double-double in the last eight matches. She fell just shy of her second career triple-double, ending with seven blocks, including a career-high four solo blocks. All of that, plus a service ace, equaled a match-high 20.5 points.
Senior All-American MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) also continued her recent resurgence, with 10 kills on just 14 attempts for a season-best .571 hitting mark. It was her sixth consecutive match with an attacking mark of .320 or better and her second straight above .540.
Senior OH Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) also finished with 10 kills, on .320 hitting. Senior MB Carolyn Cooper (Houston, Texas/Lutheran South Academy) added eight kills on .333 hitting, while sophomore OH Ellen Heintzman (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) had seven kills on 17 errorless swings for a .412 attack percentage, her second in a row above .400. Freshman OPP/MB Justine Stremick (Langdon, N.D./Langdon Area H.S.) had a collegiate-high three kills on five attempts (.600) for the second straight match.
The other story for the Irish was their big blocking. Notre Dame had five blocks in the first and final games, plus seven in the middle one to finish with 17 on the match (5.67 per game). All nine Irish players that saw time in the front row took part in at least one block. Brewster – the BIG EAST leader in blocking and a former NCAA champion in the category – led the way by taking part in eight of them, her season high for a three-game affair. Stasiuk’s seven blocks were a season high, and Stremick matched her collegiate best with three of her own. Cooper also was in on three blocks, while Heintzman took part in two.
Notre Dame also ended with 65 digs (21.67 per game), with Henican leading all players with a total of 15. Junior DS Danielle Herndon (Plant City, Fla./Durant H.S.) had a dozen, her highest total since posting that many on Sept. 11 against #6 Florida. Tarutis joined Stasiuk with 10 digs. The setter – who had 38 assists (12.67 per game) – registered her 11th double-double of the season. Kelbley had five digs, matching her second-highest total of the season, while senior DS/S Kelly Burrell (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier College Prep School) duplicated that feat with four of her own. Freshman DS Annie Mokris (Orlando, Fla./Bishop Moore H.S.) played in the final game and scrambled for three digs, a collegiate high.
All of the ND defense led to Georgetown finishing with just 32 kills (10.67 per game) and 26 errors for an .045 hitting mark.
The match was the 300th home contest in the 26-year varsity history of Notre Dame volleyball. The Irish now hold a 227-73 (.757) all-time mark in the Joyce Center, including 172-28 (.860) in the Brown era. ND is 7-0 at home this season.
The Irish beat Georgetown for the seventh consecutive time, and Notre Dame now leads the all-time series 15-1, including 6-0 in the Joyce Center. Only two schools – Valparaiso (20-3 record for ND in the series) and Pittsburgh (18-5) – have been defeated more times by ND volleyball. Each of the last four matches have been 3-0 wins by the Irish, as well as 10 of the 16 all-time affairs.
Notre Dame’s 11-match winning streak is its longest since winning 14 straight in 2003. The Irish have matched the best 19-match start in program history, which was also done in 1994.
The Hoyas were led by senior OH Rachel Nelson, who had nine kills and a match-high two aces. Defensively, junior libero Rachel Barton had 13 digs.
The Irish immediately seized control of the match, going up 10-0 in game one on the strong serving of Kelbley and opening up a lead of as many as 19 (24-5) en route to the victory. Georgetown made a late push, winning back-to-back points on two occasions – after not doing that previously. Herndon had nine digs to lead a defense that had 27 in the game. The Hoyas had just eight kills and seven errors (.023), while ND posted 18 kills and just a single error for a .405 hitting mark.
Game two was much closer, featuring six ties and six lead changes. Georgetown led 16-15 before Notre Dame strung together five straight points to finally go ahead for good. Brewster was in on four of the seven Irish blocks in the game, and ND had 17 kills on .400 hitting.
Notre Dame went up 10-3 early in the final game and never relinquished control, going up by as many as 14 (23-9) en route to the victory. The Irish had 19 kills on .375 hitting, while Georgetown had nine kills and 10 errors for a -.022 attacking mark.
The Irish are now 8-0 in BIG EAST Conference play for the ninth time in 11 years of league membership. Louisville – the preseason pick of the coaches to win the title – also stands at 8-0, while no other school has been defeated fewer than two times in BIG EAST action.
Notre Dame and the Cardinals will play just the second volleyball contest between top-10 teams in Joyce Center history, and the first since #2 Stanford prevailed in three games over the eighth-ranked Irish on Sept. 4, 1996.
Georgetown (6-16, 2-7) 12-22-20#9 Notre Dame (18-1, 8-0) 30-30-30
Kills: GU 32 (Nelson 9), ND 54 (Stasiuk 14)Attack Percentage: GU .045 (Niesen .308), ND .393 (Brewster .571)Assists: GU 31 (Fisher 20), ND 50 (Tarutis 38)Service Aces-Errors: GU 4-3 (Nelson 2), ND 3-4 (three players, 1)Digs: GU 49 (Barton 13), ND 65 (Henican 15)Blocks: GU 1 (Nelson & Niesen 1), ND 17 (Brewster 8)Points: GU 37 (Nelson 11.5), ND 74 (Stasiuk 20.5)Attendance: 1,327