Oct. 30, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Behind a career day by freshman Andie Olsen, who totaled 10 kills on a .692 clip with seven blocks, the Notre Dame volleyball team managed to sweep visiting St. John’s Saturday morning at Purcell Pavilion, 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-17). The win improved Notre Dame’s record to 14-9 overall and 7-3 against BIG EAST conference opponents.
Olsen and senior Kellie Sciacca steered Notre Dame’s offense, with Sciacca chipping in 11 kills for her 13th double-digit kill output of the season. The Irish hit .305 against the Red Storm (15-11, 2-7).
Sophomore Hilary Eppink continued her breakout season by matching a career-best mark with eight blocks, while parlaying eight kills and five digs in the stat column. Eppink’s five blocks in the final frame set the tone for the Irish to cap off their seventh home victory.
Freshman Andrea McHugh continued her offensive excellence for the Irish by bringing her kill total for the season to 288 through 23 matches – eight of which came against the Red Storm – to go along with a team-best 12 digs and two service aces.
Freshman Sammie Brown led the Irish with 37 assists while adding a point from beyond the service line, with junior Frenchy Silva rounding out the assist column with a trio.
Coming off one of her best all-around performances of the year, a 14 kill-14 dig performance against Marquette (Oct. 24), junior Kristen Dealy chipped in five kills and two digs. Three of those kills came in a commanding Irish performance in the opening set.
Diana Banya led the Red Storm with 11 kills and Darlene Ramdin accounted for six total blocks.
The Irish offense left little doubt by hitting .682 in the opening set while leading wire-to-wire in a 25-16 victory. Notre Dame jumped out to an early 6-0 advantage behind the defense of Olsen and Eppink. The rest of the set went back and forth before senior Stephanie Slatt put the set to bed with an ace for the final tally mark.
Jumping out to a 3-0 head start in the second after kills from McHugh and Olsen, the Irish later went on a four-point run with the help of two Red Storm errors and one kill by both Dealy and Sciacca. In a deadlocked score of 20-20, Sciacca once again lived up to her billing with a kill that put the Irish ahead for good.
In the third and final set, the Red Storm took the lead for the first time in the match off an Irish service error to open the lid. The 1-0 lead by St. John’s would not only be the first time they had the lead in the match, but also the last, as the Irish bounced back with five straight points. As the third set wore on, the Irish front line reclaimed control of the net by sending back six Red Storm shots down the stretch.
Notre Dame remains at home for a 2:00 p.m. (ET) match against Connecticut on Sunday (Oct. 31). Live video, audio and stats will be available on UND.com.
–ND–