Oct. 6, 2006
By Joe Prisco
Every team needs leaders, those people you can count on to take control in the toughest of situations. The 2006 Notre Dame volleyball team is lucky enough to have two such players on this year’s roster in co-captains Danielle Herndon and Adrianna Stasiuk. Both players are first-time captains but with seven freshman and four sophomores their role on this year’s volleyball team is more important than ever.
Herndon, a senior, has assumed more of a leadership role with her increased court time as the starting libero this year. The Plant City, Fla., native has already set a career high for digs in a match with her 29 against then No. 13 Missouri in the Shamrock Invitational, a mark she is sure to challenge throughout the season. Herndon also was recently named to the UNI Invitational All-Tournament team for her steady play throughout the two-day event. She also started the season by leading the team in digs in the first nine matches, which marked the third-longest streak in the Notre Dame record book.
“I’m very excited about the season and it was really an honor to be chosen to be a team captain this year,” remarks Herndon. “I feel my experience and all that I have learned from the team’s prior captains will help me in the role. It’s challenging to replace four starters, but I know the team has the talent to be successful with everyone working together and playing their part.”
Stasiuk, a junior, is the most versatile member of the team having spent time in previous seasons playing anywhere on the floor – from libero to the front row. Along with former All-American, Lauren Brewster, she is one of the last two players to record the rare triple-double for the Irish.
The reigning BIG EAST Championship MVP also was tabbed an honorable mention All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) in 2005 and was the only sophomore named to the AVCA’s all-Northeast Region team. The Park Ridge, Ill., native began the preseason well by being chosen to the conference’s all-BIG EAST squad along with junior teammate Ashley Tarutis. She has already accumulated seven double-doubles this season and now has 31 in her distinguished career. The 31 career double-doubles in kills and digs already is the sixth-highest total for a Notre Dame volleyball player.
“Being chosen as one of the captains this season has been a great honor and I’m very excited about the potential that this team has,” Stasiuk says. “As a captain, the greatest challenge is staying strong through adversity. It easy to lead when things are going well, but it is a lot more difficult when everything isn’t going your way.”
“I feel they both bring experience and the type of leadership qualities that you need in captains,” head coach Debbie Brown says. “They both have done a great job of directing our younger players and have both grown as vocal leaders both on and off the court in their new roles. They are our two-best ball control players, which helps both our offense and our defense. Between the two of them, they are typically involved in 90-percent of the balls that are played for us in any given match and it’s important to have strong leaders in those roles.
“Adrianna is our best all-around player and is capable of hitting, blocking, serving, passing and digging,” Brown continues. “Danielle is a talented defensive player and as the starting libero is in charge of getting the offense started by the balls she digs on defense.”
The `06 season arrived with high expectations after last year’s 30-4 record and advancement into the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament. Despite losing five seniors the Irish were still the preseason choice in the BIG EAST Conference for the 10th time in 11 seasons.
. Coach Debbie Brown’s 2006 Irish volleyball team features 11 freshmen and sophomores and just four upper classmen.
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The volleyball team has quite a track record since joining the conference in 1995. Notre Dame has won 10 BIG EAST regular season titles and nine conference championship titles and has made 14 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament under the watchful eye of Brown, now in her 16th season. She is coming off an `05 season that saw her named BIG EAST Coach of the Year for a record-setting fifth time, as well as being selected as the AVCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year
With eight returning monogram winners and a highly touted freshman class, the reasons for excitement are plentiful.
“As always we have high expectations,” Brown says. “It would be easy to give the excuse that this is a rebuilding year, because of all the players we lost. But that’s not our frame of mind this season. We are excited about the freshmen we brought in – plus add to that our returning players and the valuable experience they gained last season. Our goal this year is to not take a step back; we want to continue to take the program in an upward direction. I feel we are capable of competing with anyone in the country.”
Among the returners, besides Herndon and Stasiuk, is Tarutis, who set a Notre Dame single-season record for assists last season with 1, 573. Also returning is sophomore Mallorie Croal, who has taken a starting position this season. Sophomore middle blocker Justine Stremick has also done a terrific job of controlling the middle of the court for the Irish as she has already registered a 14-block afternoon against Idaho in the Shamrock Invitational.
The seven student-athletes who comprise the freshman class for the Notre Dame’s women’s volleyball team this season are middle blocker’s Tara Enzweiler and Kim Kristoff, outside hitter’s Megan Fesl, Christina Kaelin and Serinity Phillips, setter Jamel Nicholas and defensive specialist Colleen Nolan. The collective group 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.
Kaelin has been an early standout for the Irish already topping the 20 kills mark five times including a career best 24 against both Bowling Green and Missouri. She also became the first Irish volleyball player to ever capture BIG EAST Rookie of the Week honors in successive weeks. Fesl has been a consistent starter since she arrived on campus and continues to improve and set career best with every passing week. The group of Phillips, Nicholas, Kristoff, Nolan and Enzweiler has also seen an increase in court time throughout the season as they begin to adjust to the style of collegiate volleyball.
“The amount of success we have as a program this season is dependent upon how quickly the new players and the returning players are able to come together and work as a group,” Coach Brown remarks. “The early part of the season may be a challenge, but I’m confident that we will continue to grow and improve throughout the season.”