Dec. 1, 2006
MADISON, Wis.- The Notre Dame volleyball team (18-14) fell to tenth-ranked Wisconsin (25-6) in a hard fought three-game match in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, Dec. 1 at UW Fieldhouse in Madison, Wis. The game scores went 34-36, 26-30, 21-30.
Junior Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) led the attack with 12 kills on a .276 hitting percentage. Sophomore Mallorie Croal (Villa Park, Calif./Mater Dei) picked up her fifth consecutive double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. Croal also had two service aces and a .280 hitting percentage. Freshman Christina Kaelin (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) added eight kills. Fellow freshman Serinity Phillips (Valley Center, Calif./Valley Center) had six kills. Sophomore Justine Stremick (Langdon, N.D./Langdon Area) aided the Irish with her eight kills and three blocks. Both Irish setters reached double figures in assists. Junior Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos) tallied 20 assists, while freshman Jamel Nicholas (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) led the team with 25 helpers. Senior Danielle Herndon (Plant City, Fla./Durant), playing in the last match of her collegiate career, led the team in digs with 17. For Herndon it was the 27th time she has led the team in digs, which is tied for the highest number ever in a single season for a Notre Dame player.
An early kill by Kaelin tied the game up at four all in the first game. Notre Dame took its first lead of the evening on the block assist from Kim Kristoff (Carmel, Ind./Brebeuf Jesuit Academy) and Stremick at 6-5. The Badgers took a lead as large as two before a Croal kill tied the game up at 11. Another Wisconsin rally produced a two-point lead, only to see Notre Dame come back to tie the game up again at 14 on Kristoff’s putdown. After the first media timeout, Wisconsin went on a 3-0 run to take a four-point advantage prompting a Notre Dame stoppage of play. Notre Dame rallied and got within two on a kill from Phillips at 20-18. Stasiuk completed the rally with a kill to tie the game at 21 all. Wisconsin again rallied and took a two-point lead, only to see Notre Dame put together a run of their own and tie the game up at 23. An Audra Jeffers kill would allow Wisconsin to open up another two-point lead at 26-24. The rest of the match would see nine tied scores, including six when Notre Dame were facing a game point, before the Irish fell on the block assist from Amy Bladow and Jeffers at 34-36. Overall, the first game had 19 tied scores and two lead changes. Phillips led the Notre Dame attack with five kills.
After an emotionally charged first game the Irish began slowly in the second, as the Badgers opened up a 6-2 lead on the block assist from Maria Carlini and Bladow. Notre Dame, after calling its first timeout of the game, went on a 6-2 run of its own keyed by a Stasiuk kill to tie the game at eight all. After five more tied scores the Irish opened up their largest lead of the game on the kill from Stremick at 16-14. A 9-4 Wisconsin rally gave the Badgers a 23-20 lead and forced head coach Debbie Brown to use her second timeout of the game. The timeout did not slow the Badgers as they went on a 6-4 run to bring up a game point. The Irish dug deep and closed to within three at 29-26 on the Stasiuk kill, but it was a close as they could get as Jeffers finished off Notre Dame with a kill.
The Irish had another slow start in the third game and fell behind 14-7, before rallying to get within four on the Croal service ace at 15-11. The Irish kept coming and closed to within two at 16-14 on the kill from Kristoff. A mini 3-0 run by the Badgers grew the lead to five at 20-15. The Wisconsin lead reached seven on the Bladow kill at 25-18. The Badgers finished the game on a 5-3 run to take the match 30-21. For the match the Badgers outhit the Irish .324 to .204.
Notes: Notre Dame falls to 2-13 lifetime against the Big Ten in the NCAA Tournament … the Irish are now 14-16 in 16 career appearances in the NCAA Tournament … this was the third time in as many seasons the Wisconsin has defeated Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament.