Oct. 19, 2011
HONOLULU – Notre Dame won a battle. Hawai’i won the war.
The Irish silenced a crowd of 5,386 Tuesday at the Stan Sheriff Center by rolling to a 25-22 win in the third set of their non-conference volleyball match at No. 8 Hawai’i. Leading by as many as 11 scores at 22-11, Notre Dame hung on to deal the Rainbow Wahine their first home defeat in a set since Sept. 17, snapping their streak of 17-straight victorious frames on the island.
Despite the third-set setback, Hawai’i won the contest 3-1 (25-15, 25-18, 22-25, 25-21).
While Notre Dame (11-8) experienced plenty of warm hospitality during its stay in Honolulu, it could have done without the generous portion of Hawaiian service as the Rainbow Wahine (19-1) found enough gaps to notch seven momentum-building aces from behind the stripe.
The tag team duo of Jane Croson (19) and Kanani Danielson (16) combined for 35 of 61 Rainbow Wahine kills.
Senior Kristen Dealy (.310) and freshman Jeni Houser (.323) tied for team-high honors with 13 kills each.
Dealy had 16 digs to secure the double-double and senior Frenchy Silva scooped 15 shots.
Freshman Toni Alugbue (.571) had nine kills and sophomore Maggie Brindock dished out 36 assists as the Irish hit .232.
Notre Dame returns to the mainland and resumed BIG EAST Conference play at 2:00 p.m. (ET) on Sunday while playing host to USF. Live coverage will be available at UND.com.
Hawai’i went ahead, 11-5, after connecting for kills on seven of its first 14 attempts. That lead was cut to 16-13 on junior Hilary Eppink’s solo block which the Rainbow Wahine countered with a 3-0 run.
Eppink had four kills in the first set as the Irish managed a .059 hitting average. She also led the Irish with five blocks, three of which came in the solo variety.
Brittany Hewitt led all players with nine blocks.
Croson’s wicked jump serve resulted in an ace on the first play of the second frame. Hawai’i would add back-to-back teardrops while taking a 15-5 lead with Notre Dame showcasing a 4-0 run to keep things interesting. Houser brought the Irish to within four at 17-13 with a pair of sliders, which would be as close as the Irish would come to the home squad.
Notre Dame kick-started the third on fire with solo blocks from Eppink and Houser, but also had three service errors before the 10-point mark keep Hawai’i in contention.
A 13-10 Irish lead forced a Hawai’i timeout and that cushion became 17-12 to force another break in the action for the Rainbow Wahine to talk things over.
Notre Dame doubled the home team’s output, 22-11, and would overcome a scare as Hawai’i scored seven straight to cut into the lead, 22-18. Alugbue buried a backset from Brindock into the heart of the Hawai’i defense on set point.
The set win came on the heels of an Irish hitting clip of .364, their best performance in the contest.
The sixth ace on the evening for Hawai’i put it ahead, 3-1, in the fourth. At that point, Notre Dame had not registered an ace while misfiring 10 times from behind the stripe.
Brindock had Notre Dame’s first ace to make it a 16-12 count, perhaps catching the home squad catching its breath after one of the lengthiest rallies of the season.
Notre Dame stayed within striking distance and moved to within a deuce at 20-18 on a Hawai’i error. Chanteal Satele checked in and dropped the hammer at 21-18 with Eppink answering in similar fashion at 21-19.
Dealy made it a one-point contest at 21-20 before Hawai’i took care of business.
–ND–