Aug. 26, 2007
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Despite double-double performances from sophomore Megan Fesl (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) and senior Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South), the University of Notre Dame volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (30-25, 30-24, 30-32, 30-23) decision to No. 7 Florida Sunday night at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse.
Fesl had 11 digs and 11 kills while Stasiuk tied sophomore Serinity Phillips (Valley Center, Calif./Valley Center) for a team-high 14 kills and added 12 digs. Phillips finished with a blistering .583 average on 24 attempts to pace all players, and freshman Kellie Sciacca (Monument, Colo./Lewis-Palmer) had 12 kills on 24 swings with one error for a .458 average.
Florida’s Marcie Hampton registered a game-high 20 kills and Amber McCray had 16 of her own as the Gators (2-0) out-hit Notre Dame (0-2) .237 to .231 for the match.
The opening game’s seventh tie came early in the frame as Fesl and Sciacca each got their hand on a Kelsey Bowers attack to knot things up at 12-12. Sciacca had started the game with her first career service ace and the two squads hung within a few points of each other until Florida got back-to-back kills by Hampton and Kristina Johnson following an Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos) service error to make the count 18-14. Notre Dame would not get within three scores of the Gators after that point.
Florida led by a half dozen to jumpstart the second game to go ahead by 9-3, and would bulk that lead by two more when Johnson’s kill pushed the score to 15-7. The Irish could not get any closer than five points away after Phillips pounded one down to make it 29-24. Stasiuk had five of Notre Dame’s 16 kills in the game, and Tarutis handed out nine of her team-high 35 assists over the same stretch.
Notre Dame trailed by a pair in the third game before Stasiuk’s solo block brought them back within one, 22-21. A few plays later, Fesl out-fought a Florida blocker for a kill to keep the margin at one point, 27-26, in favor of the Gators. Phillips’ kill in the far back corner tied things up at 27-27 with Sciacca’s block breaking the ice to give Notre Dame a one point edge. Sciacca and Phillips teamed for a block to set up game point, Florida responded with a Hampton kill to tie, and a Gator net violation put the Irish up by one. Angie McGinnis’ error on a set secured the game-three win for the Irish, as they out-hit Florida .333 to .208 in the frame.
Neither side led by more than four points in game four until Florida went ahead 20-15 on Hampton’s kill from McGinnis. The Irish rallied late as Stasiuk and junior Justine Stremick (Langdon, N.D./Langdon Area) threw down consecutive kills to bring Notre Dame within four, 25-21. But Florida put together three-straight kills to stretch the lead to eight before Janine Williams’ final kill closed out the match.
Sophomore Jamel Nicholas (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) had 20 assists and freshman Angela Puente (Redondo Beach, Calif./Bishop Montgomery) had 18 digs. Phillips and Sciacca tallied five blocks apiece, as the Irish totaled 16 in the match.
No. 20 Missouri awaits Notre Dame as the Irish travel to Columbia, Mo., for the Tiger Invitational which begins Friday (Aug. 31) at 7:30 p.m. (ET).
— ND —