Nov. 21, 2006
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THIS WEEK: The Irish (18-12, 10-4 BIG EAST) will have one more regular season match against No. 18 Ohio (27-3, 16-0 MAC) on Friday, Nov. 24 at 5 p.m. as part of the Louisville Invitational. A win would help Notre Dame in its bid to make the NCAA Tournament for the 15th consecutive season.
QUICK HITS ABOUT THE IRISH: Below are some highlights of the note package. For more details on any topic, consult the remainder of the release.
* Notre Dame had a solid showing at the BIG EAST Tournament pulling the upset of fourth-seeded Cincinnati (3-2) and top-seeded St. John’s (3-1), before falling to Louisville in a heartbreaking five game match.
* The win over Cincinnati was Notre Dame’s first victory in five games this season.
* Irish improved their mark to 8-0 on Friday night and 6-2 in the first game of a road trip this season with the win over UC.
* Sophomore Mallorie Croal and junior Adrianna Stasiuk both had career performances in the Cincinnati win.
* Croal had a career-high 25 kills against Cincinnati. She also chipped in 14 digs.
* Stasiuk set a career best with 23 kills and a season best with her 26 digs. This was Stasiuk’s 16th double-double of the season.
* Freshman Christina Kaelin came off the bench and contributed 12 kills in the last two games against the Bearcats.
* Junior Ashley Tarutis had a season best 56 assists in the win.
* Senior Danielle Herndon had a career effort with 34 digs against Cincinnati.
* The 110 digs against Cincinnati was a season best for the Irish.
* Notre Dame’s four game victory over #24 St. John’s was the first over a ranked opponent this season.
* Mallorie Croal continued her strong weekend with a team best 16 kills and personal best 19 digs versus the Red Storm.
* The win advanced Notre Dame to the BIG EAST Championship match for the 12th consecutive season.
* Both of Notre Dame setters tallied 20+ assists against St. John’s, as Ashley Tarutis tallied 34 and Jamel Nicholas totaled 25.
* Freshman Serinity Phillips tied her career-best with eight blocks against the Red Storm.
* With the St. John’s win, Notre Dame is now 7-2 in four game sets this season.
* The championship match meeting with Louisville was the second consecutive season that these two teams met.
* The loss was the first for Notre Dame this season after winning the first two games.
* Notre Dame and Coach Brown are still an impressive 24-3 in BIG EAST Tournament play.
* In the actual championship match both Notre Dame and Coach Brown are 9-3.
* Notre Dame drops to 17-3 when winning the first game this season.
* Christina Kaelin continued her strong tournament with a team-high 18 kills.
* Mallorie Croal ended her tournament well with 12 kills and 14 digs- her third straight double-double in the BIG EAST.
* Adrianna Stasiuk recorded the 17th double-double of the season with 13 kills and 12 digs.
* Freshman Kim Kristoff set her career-high with nine kills against the Cardinals.
* Coach Brown was in her second year of coaching the Irish the last time Notre Dame and No. 18 Ohio squared off (1992).
* Notre Dame has now traveled 19,053.63 miles this season through the Cincinnati/BIG EAST trip back home.
* Christina Kaelin has 24 blocks this season but 10 (42 percent) are solo blocks, by far the highest percentage on the team.
* Three Notre Dame volleyball players have played in all 107 games this season (Justine Stremick, Ashley Tarutis, and Danielle Herndon). Another trends includes Notre Dame has used 10 different starting lineups this season, all of which have featured at least two freshman and sometimes as many as four.
* Junior Adrianna Stasiuk with her 22 double digit digs matches this season now has 66 in her career, which is fourth all-time in the double figure dig mark. She also has totaled 41 double-doubles, which is third all-time on that list.
* Ashley Tarutis with her 807 assists this season now has 3.530 assists in her career, which is fourth all-time having just passed Taryn Collins.
* Freshman Christina Kaelin with five 20+-kill matches this year is just out of the top-10 all-time for career matches with 20+ kills for the Irish.
* Danielle Herndon is quickly moving up the career digs list. She now has 1,238 digs in her career, which is good for fifth all-time. Herndon’s 25 times leading the team in digs this season is second for Notre Dame having passed Meg Henican (2004) and Christy Peters (1993) over the weekend. Herndon’s 547 digs this year is the third highest single season total in the record books for Notre Dame only six from tying Meg Henican (2004) for second.
* Adrianna Stasiuk has recorded 17 double-doubles in her 28 matches on the year.
* No individual Notre Dame player ranked among the top-10 in the BIG EAST in assists, yet the Irish thanks to both setters, Jamel Nicholas and Ashley Tarutis, were third in the conference in assists (14.55) during the regular season.
* Justine Stremick during the regular season was fifth in the conference in blocks per game with an average of 1.40. Her 24 solo blocks placed her among the conference leaders.
* Justine Stremick’s 150 total blocks this year is nearly more than her next two teammates combined (154).
* Danielle Herndon finished fourth in the BIG EAST with her average of 5.01 digs per game during the regular season. The Irish ranked second in the BIG EAST with an average of 17.70 digs per game.
* The Irish remain second in the conference in kills per game 15.80, despite not having a single individual ranked among the top-10.
* In BIG EAST play only the Irish placed second in the league in hitting percentage (.266), third in service aces per game (1.76) and third in kills (16.27) and blocks (3.11).
* In conference play only, sophomore Justine Stremick finished fourth in the league in hitting percentage (.390)
* Notre Dame has had success on the first day of road trips going 6-2 in defeating Alabama, Butler, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Georgetown and Cincinnati.
* In neutral site matches, freshman Christina Kaelin has been outstanding with an averaged 3.55 kills per game. Notre Dame as a team is 4-2 in neutral site action.
* Notre Dame has yet to lose a Friday match 8-0 this season.
* Notre Dame completed its 2006 regular season home schedule ranking 14th nationally in attendance with an average of 1,849 fans per game.
* The Irish recently had a pair of players honored recently as both junior Adrianna Stasiuk and sophomore Justine Stremick were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 5 Volleyball Team. Stasiuk was a first-team selection and Stremick was a third-teamer. Stasiuk will move on to Academic All-America ballot by virtue of her being a first-team member.
* With the victory over Seton Hall on Saturday, Sept. 30, head coach Debbie Brown became only the 28th NCAA volleyball coach to reach the 500-win milestone. Her record now stands at 504-215 in her 22 years as collegiate head coach at Arizona State and Notre Dame.
* Head Coach Debbie Brown returns for her 16th season at the helm of volleyball program and signed a new contract extension in the off-season.
* Two additions to the coaching staff this season are former Virginia Tech head coach Greg Smith and Kevin Lane.
* Notre Dame takes on nine teams in 10 matches this season that were participants in the 2005 NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
* Notre Dame had four home matches on home football weekends this season and went 3-1 in with victories over Marquette, Syracuse and Connecticut and a loss to St. John’s.
* Danielle Herndon is the lone senior on the team, the first time since 1983 that the Notre Dame roster has had only have one senior.
* Over the last 16 years, Notre Dame is an impressive 187-32 (.854) at the Joyce Center.
* The Fighting Irish have compiled an overall record of 129-10 (.928) including a record of 71-2 at the Joyce Center during regular season play against BIG EAST competition since joining the conference in 1995.
* This is the 35th anniversary of women’s athletics at Notre Dame, in celebration the volleyball team and the female athletic teams at Notre Dame will wear special patches on their uniforms this season. There will also be a special celebration in April. For more information see the info located toward the back of this notes package.
SCOUTING OHIO: The Bobcats have established themselves as one of the top volleyball programs in the country … after dropping a pair of matches to ranked opponents to start the season, Ohio has hit its stride and have won 27 of the last 28 matches including the current 20-match winning streak the Bobcats find themselves on … Ohio sped through the MAC Tournament over the weekend defeating Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan and Bowling Green … the Bobcats an experienced squad of four seniors … the team has four primary attackers to watch led by the duo of freshman Ellen Herman and junior Melissa Griffin … Herman has a team best 434 kills and is averaging 4.21 per game, while Griffin is right behind her with 414 kills (4.02 per game) … the Bobcats have only lost one neutral site match all season (No. 3 Washington) … the team hitting percentage for Ohio is .290 … the team also is very effective at digging with a team average of 18.42 per game … the head coach for Ohio is Geoff Carlston … Carlston now in his fourth season at Ohio has a career record of 117-14 with the Bobcats.
SERIES VS. OHIO: This will be the second meeting between the Irish and the Bobcats, but the first since 1992 when the Irish were still members of the Midwest Collegiate Conference … No. 24 at that time Notre Dame defeated Ohio 15-8, 15-7, 16-14 at the Joyce Center in the MCC-MAC Challenge … this will be the second time ND has faced a team from the Mid-American Conference this season (Bowling Green is the other one) … four Ohio natives have played for the Irish starting with Mary Jo Hensler (Cincinnati, Mother Mercy) from 1981-84 … Notre Dame has a solid 41-15 record in volleyball against the Mid-American Conference … Debbie Brown is 23-2 in career against the MAC, including this year’s 3-0 win over Bowling Green … the last time Brown and Notre Dame were defeated by a school currently in the MAC was Miami of Ohio in 1991.
A SOLID SHOWING: The Fighting Irish had a solid showing at the BIG EAST Championship pulling the upset of fourth-seeded Cincinnati and top-seeded St. John’s before falling in five games to second-seeded Louisville.
NOTES FROM THE CINCINNATI MATCH: Notre Dame had several noteworthy performances from the Cincinnati match.
* The win over Cincinnati in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament was the first five-game victory of the season for Notre Dame.
* Irish advanced to the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship for the 12th consecutive season.
* Irish improved to 8-0 on Friday night matches this season.
* Notre Dame now sports a record of 6-1 all-time against Cincinnati.
* Irish improved to 6-2 on the first day of a road trip this season.
* Sophomore Mallorie Croal and junior Adrianna Stasiuk both had career performances.
* Croal’s 25 kills led the team as she set a new career-high.
* Croal’s 25 kill were the first time since Sept. `05 that an Irish player reached 25+ kills in a match.
* Stasiuk’s 23 kills also were a career best effort for her, as were her 26 digs.
* This was the 16th double-double of the season for Stasiuk.
* This was the second time this season that two Irish players had reached the 20 kill mark (Kaelin and Stasiuk {Missouri 9/2})
* Freshman Christina Kaelin came off the bench and provided 12 kills in the last two games.
* Junior Ashley Tarutis had a season best 56 assists in the win.
* Senior Danielle Herndon set a career-best effort with 34 digs.
* Herndon’s 34 digs ties Jessica Fiebelkorn (10/13/92) for the third most ever for a Notre Dame player in a five game match.
* With both Herndon and Stasiuk reaching the 25+ dig mark in the same match, this was the first time this has happened since `00 against Loyola Marymount.
* The Irish’s 110 digs as a team was a season best effort.
NOTES FROM THE ST. JOHN’S MATCH: Notre Dame had a few noteworthy performances from the St. John’s match.
* With the win over No. 24 Saint John’s, Notre Dame advanced to the championship match for the 12th consecutive season.
* Mallorie Croal again led the strong team effort with 16 kills while she also picked up a career-high 19 digs.
* Croal has now led the team in kills nine times this season.
* Both Irish setters Ashley Tarutis (34) and Jamel Nicholas (25) tallied over 20 assists against St. John’s.
* Freshman Serinity Phillips had a solid performance with 14 kills and eight blocks. The eight blocks tied her career-high set against Syracuse on Oct. 8
* The Irish win over No. 24 St. John’s was the first over a ranked opponent this season.
* Irish improved their record to 7-2 in four-game sets this season.
NOTES FROM THE LOUISVILLE MATCH: Notre Dame had a few noteworthy performances from the Louisville match.
* The teams met in the championship for the second consecutive season.
* This was the first time Notre Dame has lost this season after taking 2-0 lead in games won.
* Notre Dame and Coach Brown are now 24-3 all-time in BIG EAST Tournament play.
* In the actual championship match, Notre Dame and Coach Brown are now 9-3.
* Notre Dame drops to 17-3 when winning the first game this season.
* Freshman Christina Kaelin registered her third straight double-digit kills match with a team best 18.
* Mallorie Croal ended her tournament play well with 12 kills and 14 digs- her third straight double-double in the BIG EAST.
* Both Irish setters Ashley Tarutis and Jamel Nicholas went over 25 assists again. Tarutis led the team with 31 while Nicholas was right behind her with 27.
* Adrianna Stasiuk recorded her 17th double-double of the season with 13 kills and 12 digs.
* Freshman Kim Kristoff set a career-high with nine kills against the Cardinals.
AGAINST THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS:
No one on the current roster has ever played against Ohio, since the last match between these two school was in 1992, but Christina Kaelin did registered 24 kill against fellow Mid-American Conference school, Bowling Green on Aug. 26.
* Debbie Brown was in her second year as Notre Dame volleyball coach when she defeated the Bobcats in three games. The match was played up to 15, even before rally scoring.
THE PLACES WE’VE GONE: Following the trip to Cincinnati for Notre Dame, the Irish have logged 19, 053.63 miles this season through bus and planes to destinations.
A LONE BLOCKER: Christina Kaelin has 24 blocks this season, but 10 (42 percent) of which are solo blocks, which is by far the largest percentage of solo blocks on the team.
Three Fighting Irish players have taken the court in all 107 games this season (Justine Stremick, Ashley Tarutis and Danielle Herndon). This group of three can be dubbed the “Iron Women” for taking the court in every game played this season.
A CONSTANT CHANGE: The Fighting Irish have now used 10 different lineups this season. Every single one of the lineups combinations has used at least two rookies and sometimes as many as four rookies have been starting at the same time.
A WEEKLY WATCH: These are the individual player both season and career stats to be on the lookout for this week.
* Junior Adrianna Stasiuk with her 22 double figure digs matches this season now has 66 in her career, which is fourth all-time only three behind Jenny Birkner. Her 17 double-doubles this season move her into third with 41 only one behind Jessica Fiebelkorn for second.
* Junior Ashley Tarutis with 807 assists this season now has 3,530 assists in her career, which is fourth on the Notre Dame assist list having just passed Taryn Collins for fourth place and only 122 behind Kristen Kinder for third place.
* Freshman Christina Kaelin with five 20+-kill matches this season is creeping up on the top-ten all-time at Notre Dame for 20+-kill matches in a career. Three former Notre Dame players (Christi Girton, Kathy Cunningham and Mary Kay Waller) hold the career mark of six 20+-kill matches.
* Senior Danielle Herndon is quickly moving up the Notre Dame digs list. She now has 1,238 career digs, which is good for fifth on the list. Herndon’s 25 times leading the team in digs this season is second for Notre Dame just passing Meg Henican (2004) and Christy Peters (1993) in a single season. Herndon’s 547 digs this year is third on Notre Dame’s list for a single season only six from tying Meg Henican (2004) for second.
GETTING HER GROOVE BACK: Junior Ashley Tarutis has led the team in assists in 85 of the last 94 matches.
DOUBLING UP: Junior Adrianna Stasiuk has had a double-double in kills and digs in 17 of her 28 matches this season.
AN INTERESTING SITUATION: Notre Dame has switched up their two-setters junior Ashley Tarutis and Jamel Nicholas through much of the first 30 matches, where each one of them has led the team in assists in at least nine matches this season. Due in part to the two-setter approach no individual setter was ranked among the top-10 in the BIG EAST, but Notre Dame as a team placed third (14.55) in the conference in assists.
SENDING THEM BACK: Sophomore Justine Stremick placed sixth in the conference with her average of 1.40 blocks per game. Her 24 solo blocks are among the conference leaders in the BIG EAST.
A POINT SAVER: Senior Danielle Herndon finished the regular season fourth in the conference in digs per game at 5.01. The Irish were second the conference in digs per game (17.52).
SHE STANDS ABOVE ALL: Justine Stremick is not only the tallest player on the team at 6’3″, she also has nearly more blocks with 150 this season than her next two closest teammates (Serinity Phillips and Kim Kristoff) combined, who total 154 together.
FOUR IS ABOUT RIGHT: Notre Dame is a solid 7-2 this season when playing four games; so losing a game somewhere in the first three has ultimately been a key ingredient to success.
THE FIRST DAY IS OUR BEST: Notre Dame is 6-2 this season on the first day of a road trip, having defeated Alabama, Butler, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Georgetown and fallen to then No. 16 Hawai’i and Cincinnati. Sophomore Mallorie Croal, junior Adrianna Stasiuk and freshman Megan Fesl have led the charge. Croal has averaged 3.52 kills per game. Stasiuk is contributing 3.33 kills per game and 3.79 digs per game while Fesl has tallied 11 service aces.
FRIDAY IS VERY GOOD TO US: Notre Dame is now 8-0 on Friday match days. The Irish have defeated Valparaiso, Alabama, Butler, Marquette, DePaul, Connecticut, Georgetown and Cincinnati. The Cincinnati match was the quarterfinals o the 2006 BIG EAST Championship. In those eight matches Notre Dame has 60 service aces (2.07 per game) to the oppositions 31. Freshman Christina Kaelin has enjoyed the Friday action as she is averaging 4.05 kills per game on Friday’s this season. Junior Adrianna Stasiuk had has steady performances on the first night of weekend’s with an average of 3.07 kills per game and 4.14 digs per game.
SHE’S SWITZERLAND: In neutral site games this season freshman Christina Kaelin has been outstanding with a team leading average of 3.55 kills per game. The Irish are 4-2 in neutral site matches this season.
STASIUK AND STREMICK HONORED: The Irish had a pair of players honored recently as both junior Adrianna Stasiuk and sophomore Justine Stremick were named to ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 5 Volleyball team. Stasiuk, a first-team selection with a 3.74 grade-point average as an accounting major, was named to the District 5 Volleyball team for the second time in her career. By virtue of her being a first-team selection she will move on to the Academic All-America ballot to be voted upon along with the 49 other first team members on the national ballot. Stremick was a third-team selection, as she had a 3.68 grade-point average as a science pre-professional major.
A SOLID RANKING: Notre Dame completed its 2006 home season ranking 14th nationally in attendance with an average of 1,849 fans per game and a total of 22,193 home fans saw the Irish play at the Joyce Center this season.
PACKING THEM IN: Aided by the football pep rally to follow, the attendance for Notre Dame’s match against Marquette on Oct. 6 was listed at 5,743. That crowd was to that point the 15th largest nationally and the second biggest crowd ever for a Notre Dame volleyball match at home. That number of fans is behind only the 8,643 fans that packed the Joyce Center for the Virginia Tech match on Nov. 7, 2003, which was also a pep rally match.
AN UNFORGETTABLE MILESTONE: With the victory over Seton Hall on Sept. 30, head coach Debbie Brown has now won 500 career matches in her 22-year career. She becomes only the 28th NCAA volleyball coach to ever attain 500 or more victories in a career.
The Irish have now played eight matches on television this season. Notre Dame dropped its first television match to then No. 13 Missouri on Sept. 2 and also fell to Northern Iowa on Sept. 9. The Irish picked up a TV win against DePaul on Oct. 13 before falling twice to then No. 16 Hawai’i on Oct. 16 and 17. The Irish then fell to St. John’s in three games on Oct. 22. Notre Dame finished up their tough regular season TV schedule with a three game loss at the hands of Louisville on Sunday, Oct. 29. The Irish also took a five-game loss to Cardinals in the BIG EAST Championship Game, Nov. 19, which was shown on CSTV.
A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN: Sophomore Justine Stremick controlled the action around the net against Idaho in the Shamrock Invitational. She tallied 14 blocks, including 11 block assists against the Vandals. Her 14 blocks in the four-game match is tied with Mary Kay Waller for the third most blocks by an Irish blocker.
NOTRE DAME IN SEASON OPENERS: With a three game sweep of Bowling Green this season, Notre Dame has won its lidlifter for 16 consecutive season, every year since head coach Debbie Brown arrived on campus. The last time the Irish started the season 0-1 was in 1990, when they lost in four games to Montana in the Washington State Invitational.
NEW LEADERS: With the graduation of both captains from last season, the Notre Dame volleyball team has chosen two new leaders for this season. The new captains are senior Danielle Herndon and junior Adrianna Stasiuk.
HONORS AND SELECTIONS: Junior outside hitter Adrianna Stasiuk and junior setter Ashley Tarutis were both chosen for the preseason All BIG-EAST squad.
Christina Kaelin was named the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week on Aug. 28 and Sept. 4.
Justine Stremick and Christina Kaelin were both named to the Shamrock Invitational All-Tournament Team on Sept. 2.
Danielle Herndon was a member of the UNI Invitational All-Tournament Team, Sept. 9.
Adrianna Stasiuk and Justine Stremick both took home some hardware from the Courtyard by Marriott Classic. Stasiuk was named the Co-Best Attacker of the Tournament while Stremick was named the Best Blocker.
Adrianna Stasiuk was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week for the second time in her career on Sept. 25.
Serinity Phillips was the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week on Oct. 9.
Mallorie Croal was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week on Nov. 6.
Adrianna Stasiuk and Justine Stremick were both named to ESPN The Magazine District 5 volleyball teams. Stasiuk was a first-team selection while Stremick was a third-team member.
Adrianna Stasiuk and Mallorie Croal both earned BIG EAST first-team all-BIG EAST this season, while Justine Stremick was a second team selection for the first time in her career.
HOME FOOTBALL WEEKENDS: For the sixth time in seven years, the Notre Dame volleyball team played matches this season that preceded football pep rallies. The Irish started the home portion of BIG EAST play against Marquette with a 3-1 win on Oct. 6. The second pre-pep rally match also saw Notre Dame come up with a victory over conference rival Connecticut, 3-0 on Oct. 22.
AN EXCEPTIONAL CLASS: The six student-athletes who comprise the freshman class for the University of Notre Dame women’s volleyball team this season – MB Tara Enzweiler, OH/OPP Megan Fesl, OH Christina Kaelin, MB Kim Kristoff, S Jamel Nicholas and OH/OPP Serinity Phillips – 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.
Fesl, Kaelin, and Kristoff were on Volleyball’s Girls Fab 50 list of the top high school seniors in the nation, announced in April. It is the first time since 1997 (Denise Boylan, Christi Girton, and Jo Jameyson) – and just the third time ever – that Notre Dame has had three Fab 50 picks in the same class. The other instance was the 1994 group of Angie Harris, Jaimie Lee, and Carey May. The Irish are one of only five schools that have three or more on the Fab 50 list, joining Penn State (four), Pepperdine (three), Texas A&M (three), and Wisconsin (three). Notre Dame has now had 23 players earn Fab 50 designation since 1990, including at least one in 11 of the last 13 years.
SHE’S THE BOSS: Irish head coach Debbie Brown is now in her 16th season as the leader of the Notre Dame volleyball program. She has led the Irish to a 392-134 mark (.745), while holding an overall record of 509-217 (.701). Brown’s Notre Dame teams have earned 14 consecutive NCAA tournament bids, advancing to the quarterfinals in 1993 and the round of 16 in `94, `95, and `97. Her squads have won 20 or more matches 13 times. A 10-time conference coach of the year and the only five-time BIG EAST coach of the year (4 in the Midwestern Collegiate and one in the Pac-10), she has coached 12 Irish players to All-American honors. The Irish have also claimed 14 regular season conference titles (4 Midwestern Collegiate, 10 BIG EAST) and 13 league tournament titles (4 MCC, 9 BIG EAST) under her watch. A co-captain of the 1980 U.S Olympic volleyball team after winning a pair of national championships and earning All-American honors twice while playing at USC, Brown graduated from Arizona State in 1982 and coached her alma mater from 1983-88, helping the Sun Devils to five NCAA Tournaments.
A NEW MAN IN PLACE: The Fighting Irish in 2006 have a new assistant coach in place as Greg Smith, formerly the head man at Virginia Tech, has joined the Notre Dame volleyball family this season. Smith compiled a record of 81-94 (.463), including 37-38 (.493) in his five years in command of the Hokies. Smith replaces Robin Davis who took the head position at Boise State. Also joining the volleyball coaching staff, as volunteer assistant is Kevin Lane. Lane is an experienced coach on several levels having most recently spent time at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne, aiding the Mastodons to a runner-up finish at the National Independent University Tournament.
AN IMPRESSIVE STREAK: Notre Dame’s current 14 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is behind only seven other schools nationally (Stanford (25), Penn State (25), UC Santa Barbara (25), Nebraska (24), Long Beach State (19), USC (15) and Florida (15)) for consecutive appearances in the Big Dance.
HOME SWEET HOME: Notre Dame’s Joyce Center has become one of the most difficult places in the nation for road teams to win at, especially since the arrival of head coach Debbie Brown in 1991. Over the last 16 seasons, Notre Dame has posted a 188-33 record (.851) home record. The Irish have put together some impressive winning streaks on the home court, winning 14 or more matches in a row at home on five different occasions, highlighted by a streak of 27 (1993-95), and 36 (2000-02) straight home victories. Notre Dame also won 74 in a row in regular season action against conference opposition from 1991-2004. On 15 different occasions Notre Dame has topped a ranked team at the Joyce Center, including five upsets of teams ranked in the top-10. During the Brown era Notre Dame holds a home record of 179-12 (.937) against unranked teams at home.
CLASS OF THE CONFERENCE: Notre Dame has experienced unprecedented success in the 11 years since joining the league in 1995. The Irish have compiled a 130-11 (.922) regular season mark, highlighted by 10 titles and winning streaks of 45 and 35 consecutive matches. Notre Dame is 72-3 (.960) in BIG EAST regular-season contests in the Joyce Center. The Irish have won nine BIG EAST tournament championships, posting a mark of 24-3 (.888) in the event and reaching the final every season. The Fighting Irish have also dominated the conference awards; winning player-of the-year honors six times and coach-of-the-year five times. On nine occasions an Irish player has been named to the league tournament’s most outstanding player. Also, Notre Dame players have taken home 43 all-conference accolades, including 26 first team honors.
KEEPING UP WITH VOLLEYBALL: For the fastest results of Notre Dame volleyball matches call the Notre Dame sports hotline at (574) 631-3000 and choose #5 and #1. The hotline provides schedules and results information for all Irish varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the match recaps and weekly releases provided on the official athletic website at www.und.com. In addition, media members and fans can be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting sports information assistant Joe Prisco, at prisco.3@nd.edu. All requests for story ideas, interview access, match credentials and further information on Irish volleyball should also be directed to Prisco. Credential and interview requests should be made at least 24 hours in advance.
UP NEXT: Depending on the outcome of this week’s match against Ohio, Notre Dame stands a chance of receiving an at-large bid into the 2006 NCAA Volleyball Tournament. The NCAA Division I Selection Show will take place on Sunday, Nov. 26 on ESPNEWS between 3-3:30 p.m.