Sept. 13, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame volleyball team prepares to travel to Madison, Wis., for the InnTowner Invitational later this week with matches scheduled against host Wisconsin and Western Michigan.
The Fighting Irish are coming off a 2-1 weekend at the Golden Dome Invitational, which featured wins over Lipscomb and Valparaiso.
All the action for the upcoming contests can be accessed at UND.com
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InnTowner Invitational – Sept. 16-17
Wisconsin Field House – Madison, Wis.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-3 overall – 0-0 BIG EAST)
[und.com – bigeast.org]
Western Michigan Broncos [8-1 overall – 0-0 Mid-American]
Friday, Sept. 16 – 5:00 p.m. (CT)
[wmubroncos.com – mac-sports.com]
Series: Tied, 8-8
Series streak: Western Michigan, W2
First meeting: Western Michigan, 3-0 (11.29.85)
Last meeting: Western Michigan, 3-1 (10.19.10)
Wisconsin Badgers (6-3 overall – 0-0 Big Ten)
Saturday, Sept. 17 – 7:00 p.m. (CT)
[uwbadgers.com – bigten.org]
Series: Wisconsin leads, 7-2
Series streak: Notre Dame, W1
First meeting: Wisconsin, 3-1 (9.22.84)
Last meeting: Notre Dame, 3-1 (9.11.09)
Following the Irish …
Live stats: UND.com
Live audio: UND.com (vs. Wisconsin only)
Live video: UND.com (vs. Wisconsin only)
Live chat: UND.com/blog
Facebook: facebook.com/NotreDameAthletics, facebook.com/NDvolleyball
Twitter: @UND_com, @NDvolleyball, @NDcoachBrown
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Bump, Set, Spike …
– After dropping the first set of a 2009 matchup with Wisconsin, Notre Dame rallied to take the final three periods en route to a 3-1 home win … not only was it the first win against the Badgers for Irish head coach Debbie Brown in six tries – and the first for Notre Dame since 1987 – but just the second win overall for Notre Dame against a Wisconsin program that eliminated the Irish from three straight NCAA Tournament appearances (2004, 2005 and 2006).
– The all-time series with Western Michigan is tied at 8-8 after the Broncos rolled to a 3-1 win over the Irish last season in Kalamazoo … in that contest, then-junior Frenchy Silva scooped a career-high 29 shots, tying the 14th-best single-match performance in school history … three Notre Dame players registered at least 12 kills against Western Michigan in 2008, but those efforts were not enough to turn back the visiting Broncos on the final day of the Golden Dome Invitational … the Irish appeared to have control of the match after cruising through the first two sets before Western Michigan swept the next three stanzas.
– Freshman Jeni Houser was named MVP of the Golden Dome Invitational after leading all players at the four-team event in hitting (.348), kills/set (3.82) and points/set (4.36) … Houser matched a career-high with 19 kills against Portland (Sept. 10) as Notre Dame went 2-1 on the weekend.
– Freshman Toni Alugbue and sophomore Andrea McHugh were named to the Golden Dome Invitational all-tournament team … Alugbue averaged 1.36 blocks/set on the weekend and McHugh shelved a pair of double-doubles and dropped four aces on Portland (Sept. 10).
– A highly efficient and balanced offensive output from Notre Dame helped produce a 3-0 win over visiting Lipscomb (Sept. 9) as the Irish hit .549 as a squad, committing just two errors on 91 swings with 52 kills … with the effort from above the net, Notre Dame set a program record for hitting pct. in a three-set match … the previous best (.539) was set against Marquette in 1986 … it was also the first time the Irish hit over .500 in a contest since a 3-0 win versus DePaul in 2005 … even more, Notre Dame’s side-out pct. on the evening was .840, which included a 12-for-12 effort in the first set.
– Senior Kristen Dealy continues to approach a milestone only achieved by seven players in Irish history … Dealy currently has 995 career kills and 1,042 digs, as she is set to be the first player to join the 1,000/1,000 club since Adrianna Stasiuk did so in 2007.
– Sophomore Sammie Brown became the 11th player in Notre Dame history to record at least 1,000 assists in a career, doing so with a 32-assist effort against Portland (Sept. 10).
– Notre Dame dropped each of its two matches at the Stanford Invitational (Sept. 2-3), falling to both the host Cardinal and St. Mary’s.
– Freshman Jeni Houser pounded No. 6 Stanford for a team- and career-high 19 kills … the slugger averaged 3.57 kills/set in the two matches on the West Coast to earn a spot on the Stanford Invitational All-Tournament team.
– Senior Kristen Dealy eclipsed the 1,000-dig mark at the Stanford Invite, just one week after classmate Frenchy Silva accomplished the same feat.
– Notre Dame opened the season with three wins at the Shamrock Invitational (Aug. 26-28) for its best start to a campaign since 2006 … Notre Dame dropped the second set in each of its 3-1 wins over Eastern Michigan, Idaho and Butler … the victory over Butler was the program’s 300th home win … Notre Dame is 302-95 (.760) all-time on its home floor.
– Senior Frenchy Silva, junior Hilary Eppink and sophomore Andrea McHugh were each named to the Shamrock Invitational All-Tournament team … in fact, McHugh was named the tournament’s MVP one day prior to shelving Player of the Week honors from the BIG EAST Conference … McHugh led the Irish with 58 kills in three tournament matches and posted a career-best 25 kills to go along with 13 digs against Idaho … McHugh averaged 4.83 kills and 3.92 digs/set while recording double-digit kills in all three weekend matches.
– A 22-dig performance against Butler (Aug. 28) put senior Frenchy Silva over the 1,000-mark for her career … what’s more, Silva’s 3.34 digs/set average is fourth all-time, and senior Kristen Dealy’s 3.03 digs/set clip ranks fifth … that makes the duo the only classmates ever to rank among the top 10 in digs/set.
– With an Aug. 26 win over Eastern Michigan to begin the 2011 campaign, Notre Dame is 25-7 (20-1 under head coach Debbie Brown) in home openers.
– Notre Dame was picked to finish second in league play according to the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll … the Irish received one first-place vote.
– Co-captains for the 2011 season are seniors Kristen Dealy and Frenchy Silva.
– Senior Kristen Dealy was a preseason all-BIG EAST choice along with sophomore Andrea McHugh.
–ND–