Nov. 17, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio- Sophomore Mallorie Croal (Villa Park, Calif./Villa Park) and junior Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) both registered career performances in leading the fifth-seeded Notre Dame’s volleyball team (17-11, 10-4 BIG EAST) to a thrilling come-from-behind victory over fourth-seeded Cincinnati (21-7, 10-4 BIG EAST) on Friday, Nov. 17 in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Championship at the Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati. The game scores went 30-28, 25-30, 28-30, 30-26, 15-9. The Irish will advance to take on St. John’s in the semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 3:30 p.m.
Croal led the attack with 25 kills. She also tallied 14 digs and four blocks. Stasiuk put in a spectacular effort with 23 kills, 26 digs and two blocks. Justine Stremick (Langdon, N.D./Langdon Area) chipped in 11 kills and four blocks. Freshman Christina Kaelin (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) had 11 kills, all of which in the crucial final two games. Kaelin hit an impressive .556 (12-2-18) and really provided a huge spark off the bench. Irish setter Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos) had a match-high 54 helpers while also tallying 11 digs. Fellow setter Jamel Nicholas (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) put together a 19 assist performance. Danielle Herndon (Plant City, Fla./Durant) had team best 34 digs. For the match, the Irish outhit the higher seed Bearcats.219 to .179.
The early going of the first game was tight. An early service ace from Kim Kristoff (Carmel, Ind./Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) gave the Irish a three-point advantage. The Bearcats fought back to tie the game up at nine on the service ace from Jessie Nevitt. A thunderous kill from Stasiuk gave Notre Dame back its three-point lead at 14-11. The Bearcats fought back and took their first lead of the evening on a Nevitt kill at 21-20. After a timeout, the Irish took the lead back on a service ace off the right arm of Croal at 22-21. The game saw five tied scores in the last 15 points, before Croal registered a service point off the Cincinnati ball handling error to secure a Notre Dame 30-28 game one victory. Croal led the Irish attack in the first game with nine kills, as Notre Dame outhit the Bearcats .255 to .245.
The second game was tight right from the start. A kill from Serinity Phillips (Valley Center, Calif./Valley Center) inched the Irish within one at 8-7, only to see the Bearcats go on a 4-1 run to open up a four-point advantage at 12-8. A Cincinnati block from Katie Schroeder and Myanna Hellsten grew the lead to six at 19-13. The Bearcat lead became as many as nine before Notre Dame chipped it down to six on the Herndon service ace at 24-18. After a brief Cincinnati run, the Irish were back on the attack and got within five on the service ace from Tarutis at 26-21. A Bearcats timeout slowed the Irish down just enough for the home team to hold for a 30-25 game two victory. The second game saw the Bearcats outhit the Irish .333 to .208.
A Stremick kill gave Notre Dame the early lead in the third game at 6-4. Another Stremick kill allowed the Irish to open up an 8-4 advantage and forced an early Cincinnati stoppage of play. Croal extended the Irish lead to six with a solo block at 12-6. A 5-1 Cincinnati run allowed the Bearcats to close to within two and forced the first Notre Dame timeout. A Stasiuk blast allowed the Irish to regain control and take a four point lead at 15-11. A pounding from freshman Megan Fesl (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) gave Notre Dame a five-point advantage at 23-18. After a Bearcat timeout, Cincinnati went on a 5-1 run to close to within one at 24-23. The Bearcats finally tied the game at 26 and then took the lead on a kill from Jenny Custer. Notre Dame took the lead back on a block from Stremick and Croal at 28-27. Cincinnati fought back and tied the game at 28 and continued past the Irish for a 30-28 game three victory.
The fourth game did not start well for Notre Dame, as an Elley kill opened up a five-point Cincinnati lead to begin the pivotal game. The Irish closed to within two at 14-12, before seeing Cincinnati go on a mini 3-0 to once again extend the lead to five. After the Cincinnati lead reached seven at 24-17, Notre Dame called its last timeout to slow the tempo. The stoppage of play worked, as the Irish would not go down without a fight and chipped the lead down to four at 24-20. Kaelin keyed the run with a pair of kills. Croal completed the comeback with a block to tie the game at 24 all. A huge block from Tarutis and Kristoff gave Notre Dame a two-point lead at 28-26. Another Kristoff solo stuffing put the Irish on the doorstep of a game four victory. Croal completed the comeback with a service ace to give Notre Dame a 30-26 game four win.
Needing to get off to a fast start in the decisive fifth game, the Irish did just that as a Kaelin kill gave Notre Dame a 6-2 advantage and forced the Bearcats to call a timeout. Notre Dame kept rolling after the timeout and extended the lead on a Cincinnati attack error to 9-3. Cincinnati regrouped though and went on a mini 5-3 run to close to within four, before the Irish closed the game on a 3-1 run to take the game and the match 15-9.
Note: This was the first time Notre Dame has trailed 2-1 in games won in a match and came back to win … The Irish advance to the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship for the 12th consecutive season … this was only the second time all season that Notre Dame has had a pair of players with 20+ kills in the same match