Dec. 12, 2005
Notre Dame senior OH Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) – the only hitter in Division I to have been an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) all-region selection in each of the last four seasons – earned another honor, when she was named to the All-Tournament Team for the NCAA Championship’s College Station Regional. Kelbley posted 18 kills and five digs in the five-game Irish defeat against Wisconsin in the round of 16 on Friday at Texas A&M University.
Kelbley was one of six players tabbed to the all-tournament team, along with Renata Dargan from Purdue, the Wisconsin duo of Jocelyn Wack and Maria Carlini, and both Courtney Thompson and Sanja Tomasevic from Washington, which swept both the Boilermakers and Badgers to advance to the national semifinals. Another Husky, Christal Morrison, was tabbed the Most Outstanding Player of the College Station Regional.
Kelbley is just the fourth Notre Dame player ever to be named to an NCAA regional all-tournament team, and the first since Jaimie Lee wound up her career with the honor in 1997. Zanette Bennett was the first Irish player to be so honored, in 1988, and Christy Peters was recognized in ’93 for helping Notre Dame to the NCAA quarterfinals for the first – and only – time.
The Irish senior shared team honors with 18 kills against the Badgers and led Notre Dame with a .250 attack percentage. She added five digs, a block, and a service ace without an error for 19.5 points. The kill total was her highest in the eight NCAA tournament matches of her career, and her dig total matched a career best in the event.
See below a season biographical sketch of Kelbley:
#6 Lauren KelbleySr. OH/MB 6-1 Bascom, OH Hopewell-Loudon H.S. Black Swamp VBC
Talented and versatile player established herself as one of the best in Notre Dame history … stands as the only current Division I hitter to have been an AVCA all-region selection in each of her four seasons (Minnesota libero Paula Gentil also shares that distinction) … also was AVCA honorable mention All-America in 2003 and ’04 … one of just three players from any school ever to be tabbed to the all-BIG EAST teams in each of her four seasons (first team in 2003 and ’05, second team in ’02 and ’04) … named to NCAA tournament College Station Regional All-Tournament Team for 18-kill performance against Wisconsin in round of 16 … key leader on one of the best teams in Notre Dame history … one of the most-reliable producers ever to wear an Irish uniform, as she posted 10+ kills on 90 occasions during her career (28 In 2005), more than any other player in ND history (record was 88 by current AVP player Angie Harris from 1994-97) … became the sixth Irish player ever to post 1,400 career kills in regular-season finale against Tennessee … finished career with 1,463 kills, which ranks as the fifth-best total in Notre Dame history … improved her serving throughout her career, increasing her ace output in each of the last three seasons … led Irish in 2005 with 43 aces (0.35 per game) … that placed her seventh on the all-time Irish list of top season ace totals … ranked ninth in BIG EAST in points (4.38 per game) … combined with Lauren Brewster to make Notre Dame the only school with multiple players among the league leaders in points … in league-only action, she was tied for eighth in the BIG EAST (17/0.36) in aces … in addition to leading team in aces, also ranked second on Irish in kills (441/3.56), hitting percentage (.285), and points (543.5) … posted career-best numbers this season in kills and points … ranks among Irish career leaders in 16 categories, including fourth in service aces (120) and kill average (3.35) … other rankings include third in attack attempts (3,510), fourth in percentage of games played (95.4%), fifth in matches with 20+ kills (10), sixth in hitting percentage (.291) and solo blocks (79), tied for seventh in percentage of matches played (97.6%), eighth in total blocks (416), and ace average (0.27), eighth in matches leading the Irish in kills (39), and tied for 10th in games played (437) … combines with Lauren Brewster to be just the second set of classmates to post 1,400 kills each … together they put up 2,948 kills, the second-highest total by Notre Dame classmates (3,023 by current AVP players Angie Harris and Jaimie Lee from 1994-97) … led Irish in aces 15 times this season and was tops in kills 10 times, attack percentage on eight occasions, points seven times, and blocks four times … also a big reason that ND had a service ace-to-error ratio of 0.758, the second-best in Irish history (1.030 in 1996) … listed on BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Oct. 3 … began season with 15 kills on .361 hitting to go with three aces against Michigan … recorded first career double-double against Arizona State, finishing with 18 kills and 10 digs, plus four blocks for 22 points … posted season-high 25 kills and three aces for 29 points in Notre Dame’s four-game upset of #8 USC … had seven kills in game two, including two that erased game points after the Women of Troy (already up a game) led 29-27 … final kill came on match point to give ND first win over USC since 1995 … her 10th kill against #6 Florida came at 28-28 in the third game to give the Irish a match point – which they converted … also had a kill to finish game one … had 15 kills on .412 hitting and five blocks and three aces at Tulane … posted 13 kills on .367 hitting against Seton Hall … pounded 24 kills on 32 attempts for .688 attack percentage at Loyola Chicago … also matched career high with four aces (and no service errors) against the Ramblers … had 15 kills on .324 hitting vs. Syracuse … posted 13 kills and three blocks vs. Valparaiso … posted 14 kills and no errors on 22 swings for .636 hitting mark against DePaul … turned in six blocks at Illinois State … had nine kills on 18 attempts for .444 hitting vs. South Florida … had 11 kills, seven digs, three aces, and two blocks in four-game win against #6 Louisville … finished with 13 kills on .357 hitting vs. Cincinnati … registered 14 kills on .565 hitting against Saint Louis … had 16 kills and five digs at Pittsburgh … had 13 kills against Villanova and #7 Louisville in the BIG EAST tournament … converted half of 14 swings for kills (.429 hitting) in semis against Cincinnati … matched season high with three solo blocks against the Cardinals … had 10 kills on 18 errorless attempts (.556) against Rice to go with a season-high seven blocks … posted 22 kills and only one error for .412 attack percentage in five-game loss to Tennessee … had a dozen kills in NCAA opening round against Dayton … followed that up with one of the top hitting performances in Irish NCAA history, converting 13 of 23 attempts for kills and making just a single error for a .522 hitting mark … posted 18 kills, five digs, and 19.5 points in round of 16 vs. Wisconsin.