Oct. 23, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Sophomore Hilary Eppink bounced 10 kills on a .562 average and freshman Andrea McHugh knocked down 14 kills on 26 swings while adding a pair of aces as Notre Dame defeated visiting Syracuse, 3-0 (25-16, 25-10, 25-17). With the win Saturday afternoon at Purcell Pavilion, the Notre Dame volleyball team improved to 13-8 overall and 6-2 against BIG EAST Conference opponents.
Eppink and McHugh combined for over half of Notre Dame’s 46 kills, as Syracuse (21-4, 3-4) could muster only 25 kills while hitting .067, including a -.062 average in the first set. McHugh has now registered at least 10 kills in six of the last seven matches.
Notre Dame hit .330 on the day, including 17 kills on 25 swings with two errors in the second frame.
Senior Kellie Sciacca hit .467 with seven kills on 15 attempts without an error, and junior Kristen Dealy chipped in six kills and a match-high 14 digs. Dealy also had a hand on two of Notre Dame’s nine blocks.
Freshman Sam Brown had four kills and tied Eppink for team-high honors with four blocks, while fellow first-year middle blocker Andie Olsen tossed down each of her three kills in the final set.
Freshman Sammie Brown had 33 assists and two points from behind the service stripe, with junior Frenchy Silva adding 10 digs while anchoring an Irish defense that did not allow an ace.
Hayley Todd paced the visitors with seven kills – four in the third set – and Samantha Hinz had a pair of solo blocks.
The Orange hung around in the first set until a block by Sam Brown and Sciacca tied it at 7-7. Notre Dame scored two straight and nine of the next 11 to take a 16-9 lead. Sam Brown had two straight kills to give Notre Dame its largest lead at 21-11. Sarah Hayes’ service error on set point gave the Irish a 1-0 lead heading into the second.
Syracuse’s 10 points in the second set tied the lowest total allowed by Notre Dame this season, as West Virginia matched the mark on Sept. 24. However, the Orange actually led (2-1) when the Irish rattled off five unanswered points to take a 6-2 lead. McHugh came through with three of her seven kills in the frame during a 5-2 run that put Notre Dame ahead, 18-6. Dealy added two kills after the 20-point mark and senior Stephanie Slatt swung for a score from the left side on set point.
The Irish led wire-to-wire in the final 25-point stretch, as Olsen accounted for the first two kills and McHugh aced the Orange to give Notre Dame a 6-0 lead. Syracuse took advantage of a trio of Irish attack errors and soon closed to within three, 14-11. Eppink went backdoor and McHugh’s ace extended Notre Dame’s lead to 16-11. Eppink was credited with the final kill of the night on match point courtesy of a Syracuse blocking error.
Notre Dame remains at home for a 2:00 p.m. (ET) match Sunday versus Marquette, which will be the program’s Dig Pink contest to help raise money for breast cancer awareness. Live video, audio and stats will be available at UND.com.
–ND–