Oct. 24, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Marquette overcame a 2-1 deficit while rallying to win the final two sets Sunday afternoon at Purcell Pavilion as the visiting Golden Eagles defeated the Notre Dame volleyball team, 3-2 (16-25, 26-24, 25-22, 15-8). Ashley Beyer recorded a match-high 21 kills, including five of Marquette’s 10 in the final set, as the Irish fell at home to a BIG EAST Conference team for just the eighth time since joining the league in 1995.
Notre Dame (13-9 overall, 6-3 BIG EAST) remains at home for two more matches next weekend against St. John’s (Oct. 30) and Connecticut (Oct. 31).
The Irish out-hit Marquette, .274 to .263, for their highest percentage in a five-set match since 2009. Notre Dame also out-blocked (13.5-7.0) and even out-scored (81.5-80.0) the Golden Eagles (15-7, 6-2) on the day.
Double-doubles were recorded by freshman Andrea McHugh (19 kills, 10 digs), junior Kristen Dealy (14 kills, 14 digs) and freshman Sammie Brown (56 assists, 12 digs). Senior Kellie Sciacca (12) and Hilary Eppink (13) also had double-digit kill outputs for the Irish, with Sciacca and Brown each blocking six shots. Freshman Andie Olsen came off the bench to convert five swings for kills and had a pair of solo blocks.
Marquette’s Nikki Klingsporn dished out 61 assists and freshman libero Julie Jeziorowski led all players with a career-high 25 digs.
McHugh, who did not have an attack error until the third set, record six kills in the opener. Half of those kills came before the 10-point mark, with the last of the frame’s nine knotted scores coming at 9-9. Notre Dame led by five on two occasions, and junior Frenchy Silva’s ace at 22-15 gave the Irish enough momentum to finish the set on a 5-1 run.
Fans were treated to a bit of extra action in the second, when both teams hit .261 and McHugh tacked on six more kills. Three rockets off the arm of Dealy gave Notre Dame a 6-2 lead and the spread went to six points on a Marquette error at 16-10. The set was tied at 18-18 on a Rabbecka Gonya strike, and there would be three more stalemates until Marquette moved ahead and had set point at 24-21. A block by Olsen and Eppink capped off a 3-0 Irish spurt that was halted by the Golden Eagles taking the final two rallies to end the set.
There were 12 more ties in the third set, with the last one coming on a Sciacca kill at 18-18. Neither team had led by more than three before that point, with the Irish taking the next three with the help of two more smooth Sciacca swings. Olsen emphatically ended the stanza on set point.
The Irish trailed for the bulk of the fourth set and managed to tie it at 16-16 after back-to-back McHugh kills. Marquette scored five of the next six to earn the win and force a fifth set.
Marquette caught fire behind Beyer’s five kills in the fifth while hitting .692 as a team. The Golden Eagles doubled-up the score, 10-5, and then used two straight Rebecca Stier aces to help notch their eighth straight win.
–ND–