Nov. 25, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – One regular-season match remains on the Notre Dame volleyball team’s schedule, and that contest will take place at 7:00 p.m. (PT) Friday evening at Long Beach State when the Irish lock horns with the 49ers. The match will be part of Long Beach’s Mizuno Thanksgiving Tournament, as the 49ers will also play host to Akron and Seattle.
Notre Dame is coming off a semifinal appearance in the 2010 BIG EAST Championship that saw the team fall to Cincinnati, 3-0.
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish
18-12 overall / 10-4 BIG EAST
[und.com – bigeast.org]
Long Beach State 49ers
22-7 overall / 12-4 Big West
[longbeachstate.com – bigwest.org]
Friday, Nov. 26 – 7:00 p.m. (PT)
Walter Pyramid – Long Beach, Calif.
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– Live audio / stats: und.com
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– Notre Dame Athletics Twitter: @und_com
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Bump, Set, Spike …
– Friday’s contest will be a homecoming of sorts for a number Notre Dame players and coaches … Sammie Brown (Santa Barbara), Kristen Dealy (Santa Barbara), Andrea McHugh (Yorba Linda), Andie Olsen (Oakland), Angela Puente (Redondo Beach) and Frenchy Silva (Laguna Niguel) each played their prep ball in California … head coach Debbie Brown (El Segundo) was also born and raised in Southern California … assistant coaches Robin Davis and Matt Botsford also each spent significant portions of their early days on the West Coast.
– Saving some of her best performances for the postseason portion of the schedule has become the norm for junior Kristen Dealy, who was named to the BIG EAST Championship all-tournament team for the third straight season … in Notre Dame’s two matches at the league showdown, Dealy averaged 3.43 kills/set and 4.29 digs/set with four blocks … Dealy accounted for 26.0 points.
– Notre Dame has won two of its last three post-BIG EAST Championship regular-season matches, posting victories at Tennessee (2007) and at home versus Xavier (2008) … the 2004 season saw Notre Dame head to Long Beach for its Baden Thanksgiving Tournament … the Irish defeated UC Irvine (3-0) and Long Beach (3-2) to complete the sweep.
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Series Notes …
Long Beach State
Series history: Long Beach State leads, 5-1
Series streak: Long Beach State, W1
First meeting: Oct. 10, 1992 – Long Beach State, 3-0
Last meeting: Oct. 21, 2008 – Long Beach State, 3-1
Notes: Notre Dame and The Beach will play for the first time since 2008 and the seventh time overall … this will be Notre Dame’s fifth trip to Long Beach … three of the previous six matches have seen both teams carrying national rankings … Long Beach was No. 1 in the 1997 contest, a 15-3, 15-13, 15-5 decision that ended in the 49ers’ favor … the teams first met in the 1992 Golden Dome Invitational in the Joyce Center, with Long Beach winning in three sets to snap a 16-match home winning streak for the Irish … they played again the following year at the Reebok Invitational in Chicago before the Irish made trips to Long Beach in 1995 and 1997 … in 1995, 12th-ranked Notre Dame captured the second set, 15-9, but No. 14 Long Beach rallied for the victory to hand Notre Dame its first four-match losing streak of the Debbie Brown era … in the 1993 match Notre Dame’s Christy Peters had 24 kills, which is tied for the second-most for an Irish player in a three-set match … the 2004 contest saw Emily Loomis turn in one of the finest performances of her career to steer Notre Dame to a five-set win … Loomis finished with a match-high 29 kills, and the Irish won four straight points after trailing 14-12 in the final set to clinch their first-ever win against Long Beach … in 2008, (then) freshman Kristen Dealy finished with 16 kills and 11 digs for her team-high fifth double-double of the season … Dealy finished with a .286 hitting percentage and added six blocks and one ace … Notre Dame blocked 15 shots as Kellie Sciacca punched in six stuffs and Tara Enzweiler added five … four of Dealy’s blocks were of the solo version, which is still a career-high for the current junior.
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Irish at the 2010 BIG EAST Championship …
Notre Dame put up a valiant fight against No. 18 Cincinnati in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Conference Volleyball Championship but fell in straight sets, 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-19) … the match featured 28 ties and 13 lead changes as the back-and-forth tilt was much more competitive than the two team’s regular-season meeting on Oct. 10 … in that match, there were only nine ties and three lead changes as the Bearcats outscored the Irish by 22 points … Notre Dame received 16 kills (.371) and eight digs from freshman Andrea McHugh as junior Kristen Dealy added nine kills and 15 digs … junior Frenchy Silva led all players with 16 digs … the Irish hit .265 with the Bearcats finishing with a .320 clip while recording three errors in each of the three sets … fifth-seeded Notre Dame upended fourth-seeded Villanova, 3-1, in the opening round of the BIG EAST Conference Championship … in what was the fourth meeting – all Irish victories – between the two programs in the BIG EAST Championship, Notre Dame left the building with a spot in the league tournament’s semifinals for the 16th straight season … Dealy and sophomore Hilary Eppink each had 15 kills, as Dealy grouped her effort with 15 digs and three blocks … Eppink hit .375 with four blocks and McHugh pounded 12 kills with a team-high 17 digs … freshman Sammie Brown had 27 assists and a pair of aces with classmate Andie Olsen adding six kills on 14 errorless swings with five blocks … an all-around output by senior Kellie Sciacca (five kills, three aces, five digs and four blocks) helped the Irish hit .314 while holding the Wildcats to a .193 average.
McHugh Named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year …
Freshman Andrea McHugh was named BIG EAST Conference Freshman of the Year, as announced by the league during its annual volleyball banquet on Nov. 18 … McHugh was also an all-BIG EAST first-team selection as senior middle blocker Kellie Sciacca collected second-team accolades … McHugh, who was five times named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week this season to set a Notre Dame record, is the second Irish player ever to earn the league’s award for the top freshman … Lauren Kelbley was tabbed the BIG EAST’s top freshman in 2002 … Sciacca was a second-team choice in 2008 and 2009 … McHugh ranked second among league players in kills/set (4.08), behind only Cincinnati’s Stephanie Niemer (5.17), who was named Player of the Year … the outside hitter was also second with 4.67 points/set and seventh with 0.40 aces/set … the rookie had at least 10 kills in 11 league matches, capped off by a 23-kill output against DePaul (Oct. 15) … she hit .294 with four double-doubles and 19 aces … Sciacca led the league in hitting percentage as a junior and was 10th this season with a .314 clip … she averaged 2.67 kills/set and 0.94 blocks/set in league play, highlighted by eight rejections at Rutgers (Nov. 13) … Sciacca had 10+ kills in seven of 14 conference contests.
Dealy Captures Final BIG EAST Volleyball Weekly Award …
Junior outside hitter Kristen Dealy was named the BIG EAST Volleyball Player of the Week on Nov. 15 … the honor was the second of Dealy’s career, as she was one of four Irish players to win the award during the 2009 campaign … she was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Nov. 17, 2008 (also the last week of the regular season) and has been named to the BIG EAST all-tournament team in each of the last two seasons … Dealy steered the Irish to a pair of wins (Nov. 13-14) and led the conference with 5.17 kills/set while ranking ninth with 4.00 digs/set over that stretch … she notched 11 kills and nine digs in a 3-0 win over Rutgers (Nov. 13) and followed that with a 20-kill, 15-dig performance – including nine kills and 10 digs in the first set – at Seton Hall (Nov. 14) … it was Dealy’s fourth career 20+ kill output and 28th double-double … she is one of just a handful of Irish players to knock down 20+ kills in a three-set match and the first since 2006.
Sittin’ on the Dock …
Freshman setter Maggie Brindock had a career day at Rutgers (Nov. 13) and made the most of her second start of the season … Brindock dished out 25 assists with three aces and eight blocks … entering the match she had just five blocks to her name … one day later at Seton Hall (Nov. 14), Brindock had 25 assists with four blocks, including the first solo rejection of her career.
A Tight One at Home …
During the Senior Day defeat to Northern Iowa (Nov. 7), each set went beyond the 25-point minimum (27-25, 27-25, 29-27) as the two teams combined to tally 160 scores, the most in a three-set match for Notre Dame in the 25-point era … furthermore, it was just the fourth time in program history the Irish competed in three straight sets decided by two points, the last occurrence coming in 2004 against Northern Iowa (Notre Dame once played in four straight sets decided by the same margin against California in 1991) … in fact, the regular-season home finale loss to Northern Iowa in 2004 was also the last defeat suffered by Notre Dame on Senior Day.
Irish Dealt a Good Hand From Dealy …
Kristen Dealy was her stellar self with 12 kills and a career-high 34 digs at Villanova (Nov. 5), the most by an Irish player since 2006 … the effort made her the third player in program history with at least 12 kills and 34 digs in a match (Christy Peters – 14 kills, 36 digs in 1992; Jessica Fiebelkorn – 12 kills, 35 digs in 1992) … the dig total put her in a three-way tie for fifth on the list for digs in match … she also posted 14 kills with 11 digs and three blocks – two solo – versus No. 13 Northern Iowa (Nov. 7) … Dealy’s two-match outbreak yielded an average of 3.71 kills/set and an eye-popping 6.43 digs/set, team-high marks in both categories for the Irish.
Hello, Hilary …
Hilary Eppink had eight kills to go along with eight blocks against St. John’s (Oct. 30), and came back one day later with a career-high 15 kills on a .520 hitting clip in a four-set affair with Connecticut (Oct. 31).
It’s a Freshman Thing …
First-year setter Sammie Brown became the second Irish player this season to record five aces in a match when she did so against Connecticut (Oct. 31) … classmate Andrea McHugh dropped five aces at USF (Oct. 1).
Five for McHugh …
Outside hitter Andrea McHugh was named BIG EAST Conference Freshman of the Week for the fifth time this year on Nov. 1 … Cincinnati’s Stephanie Niemer was named Player of the Week for a conference single-season record sixth time … the combination of Niemer and McHugh has been recognized as BIG EAST Player and Freshman of the Week, respectively, three times this season … McHugh earned the fifth honor after helping Notre Dame to conference wins over St. John’s (Oct. 30) and Connecticut (Oct. 31) … she secured her team-best eighth double-double of the season with a 17-kill, 14-dig performance against Connecticut … she also totaled eight kills and 12 digs against St. John’s … McHugh led the Irish with 3.57 kills/set while also posting 3.71 digs/set while recording her 300th kill of the season versus the Huskies.
Kill, Block, Kill, Block …
Senior middle blocker Kellie Sciacca, who recorded her 1,000th career kill earlier this season against DePaul (Oct. 15), reached the 400-block plateau with her first rejection in an Oct. 30 match versus St. John’s … Sciacca is the ninth player in program history with at least 1,000 kills and 400 blocks.
If They Could All Be Like October …
The Irish went 4-1 on their home floor in the month of October … Notre Dame has lost just seven times on its home floor in the month of October since 1991 and only three times since 2000.
Hitting Fire During a Five-Setter …
The Irish posted a .274 hitting percentage in the five-set loss to Marquette (Oct. 24), marking the highest hitting percentage for Notre Dame in a five-set match since 2009 … it was the fifth five-set match on the season for Notre Dame.
Half and Half …
Hillary Eppink (10) and Andrea McHugh (24) combined for over half of Notre Dame’s 46 kills in the win over Syracuse (Oct. 23).
No Errors, No Problems …
Notre Dame lasted the entire Oct. 15 match with DePaul without committing a single service error to set a program record … only three times in school history had the Irish finished a match with one service error (last at Florida in 1998).
Lucky Strike …
Senior middle blocker Kellie Sciacca recorded her 1,000th career kill as Notre Dame pulled out a 3-1 win over DePaul (Oct. 15) … Sciacca, who finished the night with eight kills and seven blocks, delivered kill No. 1,000 in the second set to become the 19th player in Irish history to reach the milestone … she later ended the frame with one of her two solo blocks on set point.
Rookie Racks Irish Record …
Freshman Andrea McHugh’s offense on the pipes helped the Irish defeat DePaul (Oct. 15), as the outside hitter went for a career-high 23 kills on 50 swings (.340) … McHugh had seven kills in both the second and third sets … with the output, McHugh was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the fourth time.
Here’s the Scoop …
Junior libero Frenchy Silva scooped a career-high 29 shots at Western Michigan (Oct. 19) to tie the 14th-best single-match performance in school history … it was the second straight 20+ dig performance for Silva and her third of the season.
Streak Comes To An End …
Notre Dame once sported the nation’s sixth-best regular-season conference winning streak, which was snapped at 19 matches after a loss at Louisville (Oct. 9) … the Irish had won their last BIG EAST contest of the 2008 season, went 14-0 in 2009, and swept their first four league matches in 2010 … the program is accustomed to such winning streaks in BIG EAST action, having once won 45 (Oct. 1, 1999-Nov. 9, 2002) and 35 (Sept. 30, 1995-Oct. 4, 1995) straight league matches.
First Four …
Each of Notre Dame’s first four BIG EAST wins were 3-0 sweeps … it was the first time the program won its first four league matches by a 3-0 count since 1999.
Advantage, Irish …
The Irish were not out-hit in 21 straight regular-season league matches until Louisville did so on Oct. 9 … previously, Marquette was the last team to out-hit the Irish, which happened during the 2008 campaign (the Golden Eagles won the battle of attack percentages, .251 to .191).
McHugh Ties Rookie Record With BIG EAST Honor …
For the third time this season, outside hitter Andrea McHugh was named the BIG EAST Conference Freshman of the Week on Oct. 4 … McHugh is now tied with senior Kellie Sciacca for the most Freshman of the Week honors earned by an Irish player, as Sciacca also notched three during her 2007 rookie campaign … McHugh set a new career high with 19 kills – the most by an Irish player in a three-set match since 2006 – at Georgetown (Oct. 3) on a .562 clip, which was her best hitting pct. on the season … the effort came on the heels of posting 13 kills and five aces at USF (Oct. 1), making her the first Irish player with five aces in a contest since 2007 … on the weekend, she hit .475 with 5.33 kills/set and 0.83 aces/set while leading the Irish to a pair of wins.
The Sun Helps …
Notre Dame’s 11 aces at USF (Oct. 1) marked the second time in school history the Irish had at least 11 serves drop for scores in a three-set affair (Notre Dame recorded 17 during a 3-0 win at Valparaiso on Sept. 12, 1984) … Andrea McHugh had a career-high five aces against the Bulls, becoming the first player to do so since 2007 (Kim Kristoff accomplished the feat against DePaul on Oct. 19, 2007).
It’s Been a Grand …
Notre Dame played in the 1,000th match in program history when it took the court at USF (Oct. 1), and won the contest in three sets.
Beginning the BIG EAST …
With wins over West Virginia (Sept. 24) and Pittsburgh (Sept. 26), Notre Dame went 2-0 on the opening weekend of BIG EAST Conference play for the third straight year and 15th time in 16 seasons since joining the league in 1995 … the Irish are 15-1 in BIG EAST openers, with the lone loss coming at Pittsburgh in 2007 … the win over the Panthers was also the first sweep against Pittsburgh for the Irish since 2004.
Something About South Florida …
Kellie Sciacca hit .412 with nine kills at USF (Oct. 1), which was surprisingly her lowest output ever against the Bulls during the regular season … Sciacca is now hitting .556 in four career matches against the Bulls (.500 in 2007, .643 in 2008 and .667 in 2009).
Make It Two for McHugh …
Outside hitter Andrea McHugh was named the BIG EAST Conference’s Volleyball Freshman of the Week on Sept. 27 … the honor was the second for McHugh in the first five weeks of the season … Notre Dame rallied behind McHugh’s arm during a 3-0 sweep of West Virginia (Sept. 24), as she came through with 16 kills and 13 scoops for the fifth double-double of her early career … seven of those kills came in the third set when Notre Dame rallied from a 24-20 deficit to capture the win … more importantly for the Irish, the win over the Mountaineers snapped a three-match losing streak … McHugh went on to post nine kills and seven digs in a 3-0 win against Pittsburgh (Sept. 26) … she wrapped up the weekend with 4.17 kills/set and 3.33 digs/set.
The 500 Club …
Senior libero Megan Dunne shelved the 500th dig of her career against West Virginia (Sept. 24) in the BIG EAST Conference opener at Purcell Pavilion … Dunne became the third player on the Irish roster with at least 500 career digs (joining Kristen Dealy and Frenchy Silva).
Dealy Does It …
Junior outside hitter Kristen Dealy was named to the Notre Dame Invitational all-tournament team, which was hosted by the Irish Sept. 17-19 … she averaged 3.64 kills/set and 4.36 digs/set in three matches and went for 24 kills and 25 digs against Delaware (Sept. 17), career-high numbers in both categories … her final totals signified the 19th time in 31 seasons of varsity competition at Notre Dame that a player posted a 20-20 output (kills, digs or assists) … the last to do so was Adrianna Stasiuk against Cincinnati in 2006.
Start It Up …
Notre Dame’s 7-2 record through the first nine matches was the team’s best start since 2005 … that season, the Irish won their first seven contests before falling to LSU at the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic in College Station, Texas, before winning the next 15 matches on the slate.
Brown Earns No. 450 …
Irish head coach Debbie Brown earned her 450th career win to start Denver’s Pioneer Classic with a 3-0 sweep of Gonzaga (Sept. 10) … Brown, now in her 20th season at the helm of the Notre Dame program, has a record of 452-175 (.724) with the Irish.
Hit ‘Em Hard …
Notre Dame posted a .488 hitting pct. in a 3-0 sweep of Denver (Sept. 12), the program’s best single-match average since Nov. 4, 2001 (when the Irish hit .495 in a 3-0 win over Pittsburgh).
Hit ‘Em High …
Senior middle blocker Kellie Sciacca averaged 3.70 kills/set on a blistering .582 average across the three matches at the Pioneer Classic to earn her third straight all-tournament accolade … she became the first player since 2007 to finish a match with a clip over .700 after hitting .722 against Denver.
Quick and Easy …
Notre Dame’s win over Denver (Sept. 12) spanned just 1:10, tying the program record for the second-quickest match played in the 25-point era.
Three of a Kind …
Notre Dame posted 2-1 marks at each of the first two tournaments to open the season before going 3-0 at Denver’s Pioneer Classic (Sept. 10-12) … it was the program’s first sweep of a three-match invite since 2005, when the Irish downed No. 8 USC, Oklahoma and No. 6 Florida at the UTSA Dome Rally in San Antonio, Texas … the 2005 team finished 30-4 and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament … the Irish won each of their two contests at the 2009 Notre Dame Invitational with wins over New Mexico State and Wisconsin.
CVU.com, BIG EAST Deal Honors To Sciacca …
Senior middle blocker Kellie Sciacca missed out on the BIG EAST’s top weekly award, but was recognized nationally as a Top Performer by CVU.com on Sept. 14 … the award came on the heels of being named to Denver’s Pioneer Classic all-tournament team after hitting .582 on the week and leading the Irish to three wins … the BIG EAST placed Sciacca on its weekly honor roll … Kristen Dealy was the last Irish player to earn recognition from CVU.com after doing so in November 2009.
More All-Tournament Nods …
Senior middle Blocker Kellie Sciacca hit .582 across 10 sets in three matches at Denver’s Pioneer Classic (Sept. 10-12) with 3.70 kills/set and 1.30 blocks/set … sophomore Hilary Eppink wasn’t too far behind with a .561 average, nine blocks and a pair of aces … both were named to the event’s all-tournament team.
All-All-Tournament-Tournament …
Doubling up on all-tournament honors for the 2010 were senior Kellie Sciacca and freshman Andrea McHugh, who earned the distinction at the Nevada Invitational (Sept. 3-4) … each were also named to the Shamrock Invitational all-tournament team to begin the season … McHugh totaled 43 kills (3.31/set) in three matches with 2.00 digs/set and 0.69 blocks/set … she led Notre Dame in scoring with 52.0 points … Sciacca was her usual steady self with 2.46 kills/set on a .338 clip and 1.31 blocks/set … against Weber State (Sept. 4), Sciacca tied a career best with three solo blocks in three sets.
Reno Aces …
Freshman Nicole Smith did not take many risks from behind the service line during the Nevada Invitational in Reno, Nev., but her performance would have caused plenty of envy from the blackjack players down the way from Virginia Street Gym … Smith fired in a match-high four aces in three sets against Weber State (Sept. 4), including back-to-back-to-back daisies to blow the match open in the opening frame … she is the first Irish freshman to knock down four aces in a single match since Beth Wildermuth, who also had four against California during her freshman season in 2008.
Early Five-Setters …
Through six matches to start the 2010 season, Notre Dame stretched it to the limit with three five-set affairs, winning two of the contests … the three five-setters are the most since 2004, when that squad went the distance in three of its first five matches while dropping two of three.
Sciacca Shreds Shamrock Invite …
Senior middle blocker Kellie Sciacca was named to the Shamrock Invitational all-tournament team for the second straight year after finishing the three-match weekend with 4.00 kills/set and a .429 hitting pct. … she posted a career-high 21 kills on a .645 hitting clip – the fourth-best average ever by a Notre Dame player in a four-set match – on 31 swings with just one error against Marshall (Aug. 27) … Sciacca then came back to help Notre Dame defeat Cal Poly (Aug. 28) with 17 kills and tacked on 10 more versus No. 18 Arizona (Aug. 29) for her third-straight double-figure kill total.
McHugh Has Huge Opening Weekend …
Freshman outside hitter Andrea McHugh was named the BIG EAST Conference Freshman of the Week (Aug. 30) one day after wrapping up her first weekend in an Irish uniform … McHugh registered a pair of double-doubles as her 11 kills and 16 digs against Marshall (Aug. 27) came before 14 kills and 18 digs against Cal Poly (Aug. 28) … she blistered No. 18 Arizona (Aug. 29) with 12 kills and a solo block … McHugh also had an ace in each of her three matches … on the weekend, she averaged 3.08 kills/set and 3.17 digs/set with 3.42 points/set … furthermore, McHugh is the first Irish player to earn the award after the season’s opening weekend since Christina Kaelin did so in 2006.
Wide Openers …
Notre Dame is now 24-7 (19-1 under head coach Debbie Brown) in home openers … the Irish are 20-9 (.689) in the month of August and 18-6 (.750) at home in August.
Preseason Honors …
Notre Dame was picked to finish third in 2010 BIG EAST Conference regular season play, according to a vote of the league’s 15 head coaches … for the first time since joining the BIG EAST in 2005, Cincinnati emerged as the favorite in the BIG EAST Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll … the Bearcats were unanimously selected, receiving 196 points and all 14 first-place votes. Louisville, the defending tournament champion, was picked second … since the inception of round-robin play in 1990, 19 of the last 20 preseason favorites have advanced to the finals of the BIG EAST Championship … of those favorites, 15 have captured the tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Championship, while 13 have taken the regular-season title … however, the last team to be selected first in the preseason poll and win the regular-season crown was Notre Dame in 2004 … Kristen Dealy and two-time all-BIG EAST choice Kellie Sciacca both earned spots on the all-BIG EAST preseason team … Sciacca led the conference in league play with a .429 hitting percentage in 2009.
Freshman Class Regarded By PrepVolleyball.com …
Notre Dame’s six-person freshman class – Maggie Brindock, Sam Brown, Sammie Brown, Andrea McHugh, Andie Olsen and Nicole Smith – was tabbed by PrepVolleyball.com as the nation’s 13th-best recruiting class … the newcomers will help replace six departing seniors which led the Irish to the 2009 BIG EAST Conference regular-season title and a national ranking … Notre Dame received the highest ranking of any BIG EAST member … USC, Penn State and Stanford held the top three spots, respectively, in the rankings … Notre Dame’s departed six-person class from the 2009 season was ranked fifth by PrepVolleyball.com in 2006.
Brown Knows How To Win …
Entering 2010, Debbie Brown is first among BIG EAST head coaches with 562 career wins … Louisville’s Leonid Yelin is second with 457 wins in 20 seasons.
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