Oct. 17, 2006
HONOLULU, Hawai’i- The Notre Dame volleyball team (12-6, 6-0 BIG EAST) survived a minor earthquake and power outage on the island of Hawai’i the previous morning, but could not upset the No. 16 ranked Hawai’i Wahine (14-5), as they dropped a tough three-game match on Monday evening, Oct 16 at the Stan Sheriff Center. The game scores went 27-30, 26-30, 27-30. This loss snaps Notre Dame’s season best six-match winning streak. The loss was also the third time this season the Irish have dropped a match to a ranked opponent.
Mallorie Croal (Villa Park, Calif./Mater Dei) led the Irish attack with 11 kills. Justine Stremick (Langdon, N.D./Langdon Area) had eight kills on 14 attempts for a hitting percentage of .571 to along with her four blocks. Serinity Phillips (Valley Center, Calif./Valley Center) had five kills and five digs, Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) picked up nine kills and 11 digs. Freshman Kim Kristoff (Carmel, Ind./Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) had six blocks. Both Irish setters Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos) and Jamel Nicholas (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) reached double figures in assists. Tarutis, for the 10th time this season, lead the team with 22 assists. Nicholas for the 18th time this season reached double figures in assists with 16 helpers. Danielle Herndon (Plant City, Fla./Durant) was the match leader with 16 digs. For the match, the Irish were out hit by Hawai’i .232 to .149, although Notre Dame did control the nets with 12 rejections to Hawai’i’s seven.
Hawai’i jumped out to the early lead in the first game at 4-1, but a kill from Phillips allowed the Irish to stay within striking distance at two. A kill from Croal tied the game up at seven, only to see the Rainbow Wahine go on a 3-0 run to take a three-point advantage. Just as the Irish appeared to gaining their composure, Hawai’i’s Jamie Houston keyed a mini run with three kills in four possessions to give UH a 14-11 advantage. The Hawai’i lead stayed around three, until a block assist from the duo of Kristoff and Stremick brought the Irish to within two at 19-17. Kristoff followed with a kill to bring the Irish to within one at 19-18, but Hawai’i rose to the occasion and extended the advantage to high as three, before Notre Dame rallied and closed the gap to two at 24-22 on a Megan Fesl (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) kill. After another Houston kill extended the lead six, the Irish again fought back to get to within two on the block assist from Phillips and Stremick at 29-27. The home Rainbow Wahine stood strong though, and defeated Notre Dame in the first game 30-27. Kristoff led the attack in the first game with three kills in four attempts. Hawai’i outhit the Irish .400 to .229 in the first game.
The Irish took the early lead in the second game, 4-3, on a kill from Stasiuk. The Rainbow Wahine then went on a 4-0 run, topped off by a solo block from Juliana Sanders to take the 8-3 lead. The Irish crept back to within one on a solo block from Stremick at 7-6, before Hawai’i went on 3-0 run, again by keyed by Houston to force a Notre Dame timeout. Momentum was clearly in UH’s favor, as they extended the advantage to six at 13-7. The Irish closed to within three on back-to-back kills from Croal at 13-10. After another Hawai’i run again extended the lead to as large as six, the Irish stormed back to get within three on a kill from Phillips. Hawai’i again stood strong and went on a 5-3 run to force another Notre Dame timeout, as head coach Debbie Brown looked to regroup her team in time to make a final push. The stoppage in play worked as a kill from Croal allowed the Irish to creep to within three and force a Hawai’i timeout at 24-21. The Rainbow Wahine’s timeout proved to be effective as Hawai’i went on 5-2 run to put the Irish on the ropes and facing a game point. Notre Dame now facing the game two elimination point, stood strong and thanks to a kill from Stasiuk closed to within three at 29-26. Yet again in what was becoming a less than ideal trend, another Houston kill closed out the second game in a 30-26 victory. The Rainbow Wahine outhit the Irish .342 to.188 in the second game.
The Hawai’i duo of Houston and Sarah Mason-who had a combined 23 kills in the first two games-continued to hurt the Irish in the third game, spearheading the Hawai’i attack that took the early 5-1 advantage. Notre Dame rallied and got within one on the Stasiuk kill at 8-7, but again the Rainbow Wahine proved difficult to catch and went on a 3-1 run to take a four-point advantage. Just as soon as Phillips block brought the Irish within two, another Mason kill extended the Hawai’i to three at 14-11. The Irish put up a furious 9-6 rally capped off by a Stremick kill to tie the game up at 20 all. The Irish finally took the lead on another kill from Stremick. The Irish were now rolling and opened up a lead as large as three, before the Rainbow Wahine stormed back and closed the game and ultimately the match on 6-0 run, keyed again by three more Houston kills. Houston ended her evening as the match leader with her 18 kills.
Next, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will have one more match against the ranked Rainbow Wahine at 6 p.m. (HT) locally on Oct. 17 at the Stan Sheriff Center before heading home for a pair of conference matches over the weekend.
Note: Herndon has now led the team in digs in 15 of the 18 matches this season … Croal has now led the team in kills three times this season … Notre Dame, after winning the first match of the series, has now dropped its last six matches to Hawai’i … three of the six Notre Dame losses have been in three games.