Oct. 25, 2006
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THIS WEEK: The Irish (13-8, 7-1 BIG EAST) volleyball team travels this weekend for two important conference matches. The Irish will take on Cincinnati (15-5, 5-3 BIG EAST) on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 10 a.m. Then Notre Dame will travel and take on Louisville (14-6, 7-1 BIG EAST) on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. The Sunday match will be a television match shown nationally by ESPNU.
QUICK HITS ABOUT THE IRISH: Below are some highlights of the note package. For more details on any topic, consult the remainder of the release.
* The Fighting Irish continued their conference-winning streak with a win over Connecticut on Oct. 20. It was the eighth consecutive season that the Irish have won their first seven conference matches to start the season.
* It was also Notre Dame’s 13th consecutive win over the Huskies.
* Freshman Serinity Phillips led the attack against UConn with 16 kills on a .500 hitting percentage.
* Junior Adrianna Stasiuk became the 11th Notre Dame player with 1,000 or more assists with her team leading 15 against the Huskies.
* The win was Notre Dame’s third straight sweep over a BIG EAST opponent and improved their record to 2-0 this season in pre-pep rally matches.
* The Irish then slipped and fell in a three gamer to first place St. John’s. It was the first time Notre Dame has lost to St. Johns in 12 matches.
* The loss to St. John’s snaps Notre Dame’s 13-match regular season home winning streak over conference opponents. Notre Dame has now gone 71-2 in the last 73 BIG EAST regular season matches at the Joyce Center (Boston College, Nov. 7 2004-other loss).
* Christina Kaelin led the team in kills for the ninth time the season against St. John’s.
* Senior Danielle Herndon, for the 17th time this season, led the team in digs.
* Notre Dame was held without a service ace for the first time since Oct. 9, 1999 against Rutgers (a streak that covered 224 matches and 802 games).
* The sweep by St. John’s is the fifth time the Irish have been swept this season, which is the most since 2002 when they were also taken in three games five times.
* The match also marked the first two games that junior Adrianna Stasiuk did not play in this season.
* Senior Danielle Herndon averages 3.00 digs per game in her career against one of this week’s opponents, Cincinnati.
* Adrianna Stasiuk has solid career number against both Irish opponents this week with a career digs average of 3.17 against Cincinnati and a 4.33 kills per game average against Louisville.
* Notre Dame head coach Debbie Brown is 4-0 against Cincinnati and 11-3 in her career against Louisville.
* The Irish have now traveled 14,978.53 miles to matches this season by bus and plane.
* The Irish are 4-1 this season on the first day of a road trip, having defeated Alabama, Butler, Rutgers and Seton Hall and fallen to No. 16 Hawai’i. Junior Adrianna Stasiuk and freshman Megan Fesl have both tallied 10 service aces in those 16 games.
* Adrianna Stasiuk has been on a mission over the last six weeks in leading the Irish to a 9-4 record, she has tallied eight double-doubles and led the team in kills six times over the last six weeks.
* Four Notre Dame volleyball players have played in all 74 games this season (Justine Stremick, Ashley Tarutis, Jamel Nicholas and Danielle Herndon). Other trends include two players that have started all 21 matches (Stasiuk and Fesl) and that Notre Dame has used eight different lineups this season.
* A few Notre Dame volleyball players are quickly moving up the career and season charts. Junior Adrianna Stasiuk with her 18 double digit digs matches this season now has 62 in her career, which is fourth all-time in the double figure dig mark. She also has totaled 37 double-doubles, which is third all-time on that list.
* Ashley Tarutis with her 499 assists this season now has 3,222 assists in her career, which is fourth all-time having just passed Taryn Collins.
* Freshman Christina Kaelin with five 20+-kill matches this year is just out of the top-10 all-time for matches with 20+ kills for the Irish.
* Danielle Herndon is quickly moving up the career digs list. She now has 1,073 digs in her career, which is good for seventh all-time. Herndon’s 17 times leading the team in digs this season is fifth in a single season at Notre Dame having just passed Lindsay Treadwell (1998).
* Adrianna Stasiuk has recorded 13 double-doubles in the first 21 matches.
* The Irish continue to alternate their two setters this season with both Ashley Tarutis and Jamel Nicholas earning playing time. Each setter has started and lead the team in assists in at least nine matches this season.
* No individual Notre Dame player is ranked among the top-10 in the BIG EAST in assists, yet the Irish thanks to both setters, Jamel Nicholas and Ashley Tarutis, are second in the conference in assists (14.57).
* Justine Stremick currently is fifth in the conference in blocks per game with an average of 1.42. Her 20 solo blocks lead the conference.
* Justine Stremick’s 105 total blocks this year is nearly more than her next two teammates combined.
* Danielle Herndon is second in the BIG EAST with her average of 5.16 digs per game. The Irish lead the BIG EAST with an average of 17.50 digs per game.
* The Irish are second in the conference in kills per game 15.76, despite not having a single individual ranked among the top-10.
* In BIG EAST play only the Irish are second in the league in hitting percentage (.287), service aces per game (1.92), opponents hitting percentage (.142) and kills (16.80).
* Since the start of conference play several of Notre Dame’s young players have turned the corner. Sophomore Justine Stremick is seventh in hitting percentage (.365) in the eight league matches. Junior Adrianna Stasiuk is sixth in the league with an average of 0.54 service aces per game and 10th in digs per game (3.96).
* The Irish are 6-1 in four game matches this season.
* In road matches this season, Adrianna Stasiuk is averaging 3.36 kills per game and 3.36 digs per game.
* With the victory over Seton Hall on Saturday, Sept. 30, head coach Debbie Brown became only the 28th NCAA volleyball coach to reach the 500-win milestone. Her record now stands at 503-212 in her 22 years as collegiate head coach at Arizona State and Notre Dame.
* Notre Dame has high hopes for the upcoming 2006 campaign as the squad returns three starters and seven monogram winners.
* Joining the strong nucleus this season is one the highest ranked freshman classes in the country (third by Volleyball Magazine and fifth by PrepVolleyball.com).
* Head Coach Debbie Brown returns for her 16th season at the helm of volleyball program and signed a new contract extension in the off-season.
* Two additions to the coaching staff this season are former Virginia Tech head coach Greg Smith and Kevin Lane.
* Notre Dame takes on nine teams in 10 matches this season that were participants in the 2005 NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
* Notre Dame had four home matches on home football weekends this season and went 3-1 in with victories over Marquette, Syracuse and Connecticut.
* Danielle Herndon is the lone senior on the team, the first time since 1983 that the Notre Dame roster will only have one senior.
* Over the last 16 years Notre Dame is an impressive 187-32 (.854) at the Joyce Center.
* The Fighting Irish have compiled an overall record of 127-8 (.941) including a record of 71-2 at the Joyce Center during regular season play against BIG EAST competition since joining the conference in 1995.
* This is the 35th anniversary of women’s athletics at Notre Dame, in celebration the volleyball team and the female athletic teams at Notre Dame will wear special patches on their uniforms this season. There will also be a special celebration in April. For more information see the info located toward the back of this notes package.
SCOUTING CINCINNATI: The Bearcats have found their stride and have won six of the last nine matches … Leading the attack for UC has been sophomore Jessica Elley … Elley is the team leader with 217 kills (an average of 3.59 per game) … three other Bearcat players have topped the 200 kills (Jessie Nevitt-213 kills, Myanna Hellstein-202 and Jenny Custer-202) … Nevitt and Custer are both coming off record setting performances over the weekend … Nevitt set a new school mark with 14 total blocks against Seton Hall, while Custer tallied a school record seven service aces against the Pirates … senior setter Noel Olsen has been among the conference leaders in assists for most the season (12.63) … Cincinnati leads the conference in blocks per game at 3.56 and have two players that have reached the century mark (Nevitt and Hellsten) … Reed Sunahara is in his sixth season at the helm at Cincinnati.
SERIES VS. CINCINNATI: The Irish and Bearcats will play for the fifth time since 2000 and the sixth time overall … this will be Notre Dame’s first-ever trip to play at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati … the Irish have an overall record of 20-12 in matches in the state of Ohio … Notre Dame has won all five previous matches against Cincinnati … the most-recent match came in the 2005 BIG EAST Championship in the Louisville, with the No. 8 Irish winning 30-20, 30-20, 30-14 … current junior Ellen Heintzman had eight kills and five blocks in the contest … earlier in the 2005 season Notre Dame won all three games over the Bearcats by the margin of 30-24, 30-27, 30-27 … ND has been ranked in the top 25 at the time of each of the last four contests … the Irish hold a 15-2 advantage in games won in the series … the first-ever match between the teams was a five-game affair in the 1987 Eastern Kentucky Colonel Invitational in Richmond (15-10 in the fifth) … the schools then did not play again until ND won 15-2, 15-12, 15-10 in the opening round of the 2000 NCAA tournament in Columbus, Ohio … one of the top players in the early history of ND’s program hailed from Cincinnati: OH Mary Jo Hensler (1981-84, Mother of Mercy H.S.) … another Cincinnati native, S/H Jenny Reilly (St. Ursula H.S.), was on the Irish roster in 1990, but did not see action … this will be Notre Dame’s first trip to Ohio since 2000 when the Fighting Irish played Ohio State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament … ND hasn’t visited the city of Cincinnati since 1990 … Notre Dame’s Zanette Bennett cranked 31 kills against the Bearcats in the ’87 match, a total which stands tied for the third-highest ever by an Irish player in any-length match … she finished with a .529 hitting mark (4 errors, 51 attempts) in that match, which is the second-highest mark in program history in a five-game affair.
SCOUTING LOUISVILLE: The Cardinals are coming on quickly … they are tied with Notre Dame for second place in the conference and have won five conference matches in row (four at home) … overall the Cardinals are riding a six match winning streak … the conference’s preseason pick for Player of the Year, Ana Yartseva-Stewart, has been outstanding as expected … she leads the conference with her hitting percentage of .397 and is third on the team in kills … freshman outside hitter Tatyana Kolesnikova leads the squad with 218 kills (an average of 3.25 per game) … she was named the Rookie of the Week this week (Oct. 23) … freshman setter Samantha Dabbs has also been an impact player and leads the team in assists (620) … the team hitting percentage for Louisville is an impressive .276 … Louisville has also been impressive around the nets with 404 block assists and 250 total blocks … their is quite an international flair to the roster with six players that were born abroad … head coach Leonid Yelin is in his 11th year with the Cardinals.
SERIES VS. LOUISVILLE: The Irish and Cardinals will meet for the fourth time in the last five years and the 18th time overall … ND holds a 14-3 advantage in the all-time series, including a pair of wins over Louisville a year ago … No. 8 Notre Dame defeated No. 7 Louisville in a five-game thriller 28-30, 31-29, 30-21, 23-30, 15-8 to win the BIG EAST Conference Tournament title for the ninth time overall and sixth time in the last seven years … the 2005 regular season match-up at the Joyce Center saw No. 7 ND knocked off No. 6 Louisville 30-28, 30-28, 27-30, 30-27 … junior Adrianna Stasiuk had 21 kills and 18 digs in the victory … at least one team has carried a national ranking in 11 of the last 13 matches between the squads … Notre Dame is 5-2 when ranked higher than Louisville, while the Cards are 1-3 when being higher-ranked … the Irish lead 45-22 in games won … the schools have played four five-game matches since 1994, with ND winning three … the schools first played in `86, with the Irish winning 3-0 in Louisville … after six consecutive ND wins, U of L broke through at home in `92 with a 3-1 upset of No. 20 Notre Dame … the teams played 14 times in regular-season action from 1986-99, … freshman Christina Kaelin (Louisville, Assumption H.S., KIVA) and junior Ellen Heintzman (Louisville, Sacred Heart Acad., KIVA) are just the second and third Kentucky natives ever to play volleyball for the Irish, following another Louisville product, Andrea Armento (1991-92, Sacred Heart Academy, KIVA) … ND had 94 kills in the ’94 affair, which is the fifth-most ever by any team in the Joyce Center.
A STRONG START TO THE CONFERENCE SEASON: The Fighting Irish continued their 2006 conference-winning streak with a three-game victory over Connecticut on Friday, Oct. 20 at the Joyce Center. This was the eighth year in a row the Irish have won their first seven conference matches to start the season. The Irish then had a slip up and fell to BIG EAST rival St. John’s in three games on Sunday, Oct. 22 also at the Joyce Center.
A FAMILIAR TREND: The Irish with a win over Connecticut have now won 13 in a row over the Huskies.
A NOT SO FAMILIAR SITE: The loss to St. John’s was the first time that Irish have fallen to the Red Storm in 12 matches.
NOTES FROM THE CONNECTICUT MATCH: Notre Dame had several noteworthy performances from the Huskies match.
* Freshman Serinity Phillips led the attack with a career best 16 kills on a .500 hitting percentage (16-2-28). Phillips also contributed four blocks.
*Adrianna Stasiuk had a steady performance as she led the team with 15 digs while tallying five blocks. Stasiuk’s four solo blocks tie her career-high. Stasiuk’s 15 digs put her over the 1,000-career dig mark in her career. She is only the 11th Notre Dame player to reach the mark.
* Junior Ashley Tarutis led the attack with 30 assists. It was the 11th time she has led the team in helpers this season.
* The win was Notre Dame’s third straight sweep over a BIG EAST opponent and improved their record to 2-0 this season in pre-pep rally matches.
* The Irish improved their record to 71-1 in regular season matches at the Joyce Center against BIG EAST competition.
NOTES FROM THE ST. JOHN’S MATCH: Notre Dame had a few noteworthy performances from the St. John’s match.
* The loss snaps the Irish’s 13-match regular season home conference winning streak. Notre Dame has now gone 71-2 in the last 73 BIG EAST regular season matches at the Joyce Center (Boston College, Nov. 7, 2004).
* Freshman Christina Kaelin led the attack with 12 kills. It was her ninth time leading the team in kills this season.
* Fellow rookies Serinity Phillips and Megan Fesl both reached double figures in kills with 10 apiece.
* Senior Danielle Herndon, for the 17th time this season led the team in digs with 14.
* Notre Dame was held without a service ace for the first time since Oct. 9, 1999 against Rutgers (the streak covered 224 matches and 802 games).
* The loss drops Notre Dame to 1-5 in television matches this season.
* This was the fifth time the Irish have been swept this season, the most since 2002 when Notre Dame was also swept five times.
* This match marked the first two games that junior Adrianna Stasiuk did not play in this season.
AGAINST THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS:
* Senior Danielle Herndon is averaging 3.00 digs per game in her career in two career matches against Cincinnati.
* Junior Adrianna Stasiuk averages 2.67 kills per game and 3.17 digs per game against the Bearcats.
* Junior Ashley Tarutis has averaged 13 assists per game against UC.
* Sophomore Mallorie Croal has been a primetime player against Louisville with a career average of 4.125 points per game.
* Adrianna Stasiuk has also played well with a career average of 4.33 kills per game in nine career games against the Cardinals.
*Ashley Tarutis has a career average of nearly 14 assists per game against Louisville (13.89).
* Coach Debbie Brown is 4-0 against Cincinnati and 11-3 against Louisville.
THE PLACES WE’VE GONE: Following the trip to Hawai’i for Notre Dame, the Irish have logged 14,978.53 miles this season through bus and planes.
THE FIRST DAY IS OUR BEST: Notre Dame is 4-1 this season on the first day of a road trip, having defeated Alabama, Butler, Rutgers and Seton Hall and fallen to then No. 16 Hawai’i. Junior Adrianna Stasiuk and freshman Megan Fesl have both tallied 10 service aces in those 16 games.
A WOMAN ON A MISSION: Over the last six weeks Adrianna Stasiuk has been taking her game to another level. The Irish have gone 9-4 over the last six weeks with the junior leading the way. In those 13 matches Stasiuk had tallied eight double-doubles while leading the team in kills six times. Her 139 kills (3.39 per game) and 4.46 points per game are team best efforts in both categories and she is second on the squad in digs with 155 (3.78 per game). She also leads the team with 22 service aces and is tied for fourth on the team in assists.
THE IRON GROUP: Four Fighting Irish players have taken the court in all 74 games this season (Justine Stremick, Ashley Tarutis, Jamel Nicholas and Danielle Herndon). This group of four can be dubbed the Iron Women for taking the court in every game played this season.
THEY WILL BE ON THE COURT: With so many young players on the team this season- eight different lineups have being used- two players have stayed consistent and started all 21 matches this season in Adrianna Stasiuk and Megan Fesl.
A WEEKLY WATCH: These are the individual player both season and career stats to be on the lookout for this week.
* Junior Adrianna Stasiuk with her 18 double figure digs matches this season now has 62 in her career, which is fourth all-time. Her 13 double-doubles this season move her to into third with 37 only five behind Jessica Fiebelkorn for second.
* Junior Ashley Tarutis with 499 assists this season now has 3,222 assists in her career, which is fourth on the Notre Dame assist list having just passed Taryn Collins for fourth place.
* Freshman Christina Kaelin with five 20+-kill matches this season is creeping up on the top-ten all-time at Notre Dame for 20+ kill matches in a career. Three former Notre Dame players (Christi Girton, Kathy Cunningham and Mary Kay Waller) hold the career mark of six 20+-kill matches.
* Senior Danielle Herndon is quickly moving up the Notre Dame digs list. She now has 1,073 career digs, which is good for seventh on the list. Herndon’s 17 times leading the team in digs this season is fifth for Notre Dame just passing Lindsay Treadwell (1998) in a single season.
GETTING HER GROOVE BACK: Junior Ashley Tarutis has led the team in assists in 76 of the last 85 matches.
DOUBLING UP: Junior Adrianna Stasiuk has had a double-double in kills and digs in 13 of the 21 matches this season.
AN INTERESTING SITUATION: Notre Dame has switched up their two-setters junior Ashley Tarutis and Jamel Nicholas through the first 21 matches, where each one of them has led the team in assists in at least nine matches this season. Due in part to the two-setter approach no individual setter is ranked among the top-10 in the BIG EAST, but Notre Dame as a team is second (14.57) in the conference in assists.
SENDING THEM BACK: Sophomore Justine Stremick is fifth in the conference with her average of 1.42 blocks per game. Her 20 solo blocks are the most in the BIG EAST.
A POINT SAVER: Senior Danielle Herndon is second in the conference in digs per game at 5.16. Herndon and the Irish lead the conference in digs per game (17.50).
MAKING A TEAM IMPACT: As a team the Irish have climbed to second in the conference in kills per game at 15.84, despite not having any individual ranked among the top-10.
SHE STANDS ABOVE ALL: Justine Stremick is not only the tallest player on the team at 6’3″, she also has nearly more blocks with 105 this season than her next two closest teammates combined (Adrianna Stasiuk and Kim Kristoff), who total 107 together.
A DIFFERENT SEASON: Since the beginning of conference play the Irish are second in the BIG EAST in hitting percentage (.287) and service aces per game (1.92). During league play only, Notre Dame is also second in conference in opponents hitting percentage (.153) and kills (16.77).
WE’RE TURNING THE CORNER: Several individual Notre Dame players have been playing exceptionally well since the start of league play. Sophomore Justine Stremick is seventh in hitting percentage (.365) in the eight league matches. Junior Adrianna Stasiuk is sixth in the league with an average of 0.54 service aces per game and 10th in digs per game 3.96.
FOUR IS ABOUT RIGHT: Notre Dame is a solid 6-1 this season when playing four games; so losing a game somewhere in the first three has ultimately been a key ingredient to success.
LOVING THE HOME COOKING: Several Notre Dame player have played well at the friendly confines of the Joyce Center this season, none better than freshman Christina Kaelin. Kaelin is averaging 4.00 kills per game in home matches this season.
SHE DOESN’T MIND GETTING AWAY: In road games this season junior Adrianna Stasiuk is averaging 3.36 kills per game and 3.36 digs per game.
PACKING THEM IN: Aided by the football pep rally to follow, the attendance for Notre Dame’s match against Marquette on Oct. 6 was listed at 5,743. That crowd was to that point the 15th largest nationally and the second biggest crowd ever for a Notre Dame volleyball match at home. That number of fans is behind only the 8,643 fans that packed the Joyce Center for the Virginia Tech match on Nov. 7, 2003, which was also a pep rally match.
AN UNFORGETABLE MILESTONE: With the victory over Seton Hall, head coach Debbie Brown has now won 500 career matches in her 22-year career. She becomes only the 28th NCAA volleyball coach to ever attain 500 or more victories in a career.
A MEDIA FRIENDLY TEAM: The Irish have now played six matches on television this season and have at least one more to be shown this weekend. Notre Dame dropped its first television match to then No. 13 Missouri on Sept. 2 and also fell to Northern Iowa on Sept. 9. The Irish picked up a TV win against DePaul on Oct. 13 before falling twice to then No. 16 Hawai’i on Oct. 16 and 17. The Irish dropped the most recent television match to St. John’s in three games on Oct. 22. Notre Dame will take on Louisville at 1 p.m. on ESPNU on Sunday, Oct. 29.
A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN: Sophomore Justine Stremick controlled the action around the net against Idaho in the Shamrock Invitational. She tallied 14 blocks, including 11 block assists against the Vandals. Her 14 blocks in the four-game match is tied with Mary Kay Waller for the third most blocks by an Irish blocker.
NOTRE DAME IN SEASON OPENERS: With a three game sweep of Bowling Green this season, Notre Dame has won its lidlifter for 16 consecutive season, every year since head coach Debbie Brown arrived on campus. The last time the Irish started the season 0-1 was in 1990, when they lost in four games to Montana in the Washington State Invitational.
NEW LEADERS: With the graduation of both captains from last season, the Notre Dame volleyball team has chosen two new leaders for this season. The new captains are senior Danielle Herndon and junior Adrianna Stasiuk.
WHO’S BACK? The Notre Dame volleyball team returns three starter and seven monogram winners from last year’s squad. Among the returnees, besides Herndon and Stasiuk, is all-time single season assist record holder (1,573) junior setter Ashley Tarutis. Also returning is junior outside hitter Ellen Heintzman, and sophomores Madison Clark, Mallorie Croal and Justine Stremick.
NEW FACES: The Notre Dame volleyball team has reloaded with six highly touted freshman vying for playing time this season. The freshmen this year are Tara Enzweiler, Megan Fesl, Christina Kaelin, Kim Kristoff, Jamel Nicholas and Serinity Phillips.
IRISH ARE THE BIG EAST FAVORITE: For the 11th time in 12 seasons as a member of the BIG EAST, Notre Dame volleyball program was chosen as the preseason favorite in the BIG EAST Conference. The only season Notre Dame was not chosen as the favorite since entering the league was last season’s second place prediction.
HONORS AND SELECTIONS: Junior outside hitter Adrianna Stasiuk and junior setter Ashley Tarutis were both chosen for the preseason All BIG-EAST squad.
* Christina Kaelin was named the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week on Aug. 28 and Sept. 4.
* Justine Stremick and Christina Kaelin were both named to the Shamrock Invitational All-Tournament Team on Sept. 2.
* Danielle Herndon was a member of the UNI Invitational All-Tournament Team, Sept. 9.
* Adrianna Stasiuk and Justine Stremick both took home some hardware from the Courtyard by Marriott Classic. Stasiuk was named the Co-Best Attacker of the Tournament while Stremick was named the Best Blocker.
* Adrianna Stasiuk was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week for the second time in her career on Sept. 25.
* Serinity Phillips was the BIG EAST ROOKIE of the Week on Oct. 9.
HOME FOOTBALL WEEKENDS: For the sixth time in seven years, the Notre Dame volleyball team played matches this season that preceded football pep rallies. The Irish started the home portion of BIG EAST play against Marquette with a 3-1 win on Oct. 6. The second pre-pep rally match also saw Notre Dame come up with a victory over conference rival Connecticut, 3-0 on Oct. 22.
ALL BY HERSELF: Senior Danielle Herndon is the lone senior on the 13-person team this season, which is the first time since 1983 (Terese Henken) that the Irish have only had one senior on the team.
AN EXCEPTIONAL CLASS: The six student-athletes who comprise the freshman class for the University of Notre Dame women’s volleyball team this season – MB Tara Enzweiler, OH/OPP Megan Fesl, OH Christina Kaelin, MB Kim Kristoff, S Jamel Nicholas and OH/OPP Serinity Phillips – earned high praise before even stepping on campus, as two publications ranked the group among the five best in the country. Volleyball magazine had Notre Dame third on its list of top recruiting classes appearing in the August issue, while PrepVolleyball.com placed the Irish fifth on a similar list. These cap off the accolades received by the group, which features four PrepVolleyball.com high school All-Americans, three Volleyball magazine Fab 50 selections, and two Gatorade State Players of the Year for volleyball.
Fesl, Kaelin, and Kristoff were on Volleyball’s Girls Fab 50 list of the top high school seniors in the nation, announced in April. It is the first time since 1997 (Denise Boylan, Christi Girton, and Jo Jameyson) – and just the third time ever – that Notre Dame has had three Fab 50 picks in the same class. The other instance was the 1994 group of Angie Harris, Jaimie Lee, and Carey May. The Irish are one of only five schools that have three or more on the Fab 50 list, joining Penn State (four), Pepperdine (three), Texas A&M (three), and Wisconsin (three). Notre Dame has now had 23 players earn Fab 50 designation since 1990, including at least one in 11 of the last 13 years.
SHE’S THE BOSS: Irish head coach Debbie Brown is now in her 16th season as the leader of the Notre Dame volleyball program. She has led the Irish to a 387-130 mark (.749), while holding an overall record of 504-213 (.703). Brown’s Notre Dame teams have earned 14 consecutive NCAA tournament bids, advancing to the quarterfinals in 1993 and the round of 16 in `94, `95, and `97. Her squads have won 20 or more matches 13 times. A 10-time conference coach of the year and the only five-time BIG EAST coach of the year (4 in the Midwestern Collegiate and one in the Pac-10), she has coached 12 Irish players to All-American honors. The Irish have also claimed 14 regular season conference titles (4 Midwestern Collegiate, 10 BIG EAST) and 13 league tournament titles (4 MCC, 9 BIG EAST) under her watch. A co-captain of the 1980 U.S Olympic volleyball team after winning a pair of national championships and earning All-American honors twice while playing at USC, Brown graduated from Arizona State in 1982 and coached her alma mater from 1983-88, helping the Sun Devils to five NCAA Tournaments.
A NEW MAN IN PLACE: The Fighting Irish in 2006 will have a new assistant coach in place as Greg Smith, formerly the head man at Virginia Tech, has joined the Notre Dame volleyball family this season. Smith compiled a record of 81-94 (463), including 37-38 (.493) in his five years in command of the Hokies. Smith replaces Robin Davis who took the head position at Boise State. Also joining the volleyball coaching staff, as volunteer assistant is Kevin Lane. Lane is an experienced coach on several levels having most recently spent time at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne, aiding the Mastodons to a runner-up finish at the National Independent University Tournament.
AN IMPRESSIVE STREAK: Notre Dame’s current 14 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is behind only seven other schools nationally (Stanford (25), Penn State (25), UC Santa Barbara (25), Nebraska (24), Long Beach State (19), USC (15) and Florida (15)) for consecutive appearances in the Big Dance.
HOME SWEET HOME: Notre Dame’s Joyce Center has become one of the most difficult places in the nation for road teams to win at, especially since the arrival of head coach Debbie Brown in 1991. Over the last 16 seasons, Notre Dame has posted a 187-32 record (.854) home record. The Irish have put together some impressive winning streaks on the home court, winning 14 or more matches in a row at home on five different occasions, highlighted by a streak of 27 (1993-95), and 36 (2000-02) straight home victories. Notre Dame also won 74 in a row in regular season action against conference opposition from 1991-2004. On 15 different occasions Notre Dame has topped a ranked team at the Joyce Center, including five upsets of teams ranked in the top-10. During the Brown era Notre Dame holds a home record of 178-11 (.942) against unranked teams at home.
CLASS OF THE CONFERENCE: Notre Dame has experienced unprecedented success in the 11 years since joining the league in 1995. The Irish have compiled a 127-8 (.940) regular season mark, highlighted by 10 titles and winning streaks of 45 and 35 consecutive matches. Notre Dame is 71-2 (.973) in BIG EAST regular-season contests in the Joyce Center. The Irish have won nine BIG EAST tournament championships, posting a mark of 22-2 (.917) in the event and reaching the final every season. The Fighting Irish have also dominated the conference awards; winning player-of the-year honors six times and coach-of-the-year five times. On nine occasions an Irish player has been named to the league tournament’s most outstanding player. Also, Notre Dame players have taken home 40 all-conference accolades, including 24 first team honors.
KEEPING UP WITH VOLLEYBALL: For the fastest results of Notre Dame volleyball matches call the Notre Dame sports hotline at (574) 631-3000 and choose #5 and #1. The hotline provides schedules and results information for all Irish varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the match recaps and weekly releases provided on the official athletic website at www.und.com. In addition, media members and fans can be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting sports information assistant Joe Prisco, at prisco.3@nd.edu. All requests for story ideas, interview access, match credentials and further information on Irish volleyball should also be directed to Prisco. Credential and interview requests should be made at least 24 hours in advance.
UP NEXT: The Irish have a pair of road BIG EAST matches next weekend against Georgetown on Nov. 3 at 8 p.m. and against South Florida on Nov. 5 at 2 p.m.