Nov. 5, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Freshman Jeni Houser had a match-high 17 kills and sophomore Andrea McHugh added a double-double to help give the Notre Dame volleyball team a 3-1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-22, 25-17) BIG EAST Conference win against visiting Seton Hall Saturday at Purcell Pavilion.
Notre Dame (14-9 overall, 7-4 BIG EAST) hit .250 as a unit with sophomore setter Maggie Brindock handing out 35 assists with 13 digs. Brindock also had three blocks and was one of five Irish players with multiple rejections.
Freshman Toni Alugbue delivered 11 kills on 22 errorless swings (.500), adding seven digs, six blocks and an ace.
Two aces came from sophomore Sammie Brown, who also had 12 assists.
Seniors Kristen Dealy (16) and Frenchy Silva (13) recorded double-digit dig performances.
Coming in with eight kills (.412) and six blocks was junior Hilary Eppink.
Seton Hall (14-12, 5-6) had a pair of players with 10+ kills led by Stacey Manthorpe’s 16. Krissy Wrobel had a hand in 10 of the Pirates’ 12 rejections.
Three of Alugbue’s blocks helped Notre Dame to a 5-2 lead in the first and Houser even added a pair of rare assists to give the Irish a 7-2 lead.
Holding a 12-8 lead in the second, Notre Dame gave up eight unanswered scores to Seton Hall while eventually surrendering the set to the visitors.
Knotted at 15-15, Notre Dame received an ace from Brown and McHugh came through with a kill to cap off a 4-0 run to put things in cruise control for the Irish.
The Irish led wire-to-wire in the fourth and final frame.
Notre Dame returns to action at 1:00 p.m. (ET) Sunday when it faces Rutgers. Live video, audio and stats will be available at UND.com.
Sunday will also be Notre Dame’s Senior Day, as the program will honor fourth-year standouts Dealy and Silva.
–ND–