Nov. 10, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The regular season comes to a close Sunday when the Notre Dame volleyball team faces Syracuse at noon (ET). That matchup comes two days after the Irish travel to Marquette for a Friday evening showdown at Al McGuire Arena.
With an 8-4 record in BIG EAST play, the Irish have clinched a spot in the league tournament hosted by Marquette next week (Nov. 18-20).
Live stats for both matches will be available at UND.com.
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Following the Irish …
Live stats: UND.com
Facebook: facebook.com/NotreDameAthletics, facebook.com/NDvolleyball
Twitter: @UND_com, @NDvolleyball, @NDcoachBrown, @NDsidJorge
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish (15-9 overall – 8-4 BIG EAST)
[und.com – bigeast.org]
Marquette Golden Eagles (20-8 overall – 10-2 BIG EAST)
[gomarquette.com – bigeast.org]
Friday, Nov. 1 – 6:00 p.m. (CT)
Series history: Notre Dame leads, 10-3 (3-3 BIG EAST)
Series streak: Marquette, W1
First meeting: 10.5.85 – Notre Dame, 3-0
Last meeting: 10.24.10 – Marquette, 3-2
– Notre Dame has been a member of three conferences over the history of its volleyball program and has handed Marquette a league loss in each of the three … the teams played as North Star Conference members from 1985-87 and were Midwestern Collegiate Conference foes for one season (1990) before Marquette joined the BIG EAST in 2004 … the schools first met in 1985 in Dayton, Ohio, with the Irish prevailing in three sets … the Irish and Golden Eagles will meet for the seventh time since 1997 and 14th time overall … Notre Dame holds a 10-3 mark over Marquette with a 35-13 advantage in set victories, although the Golden Eagles have won three of the last four matchups … Marquette overcame a 2-1 deficit while rallying to win the final two sets when the two teams faced each other in 2010 … Ashley Beyer recorded a match-high 21 kills, including five of Marquette’s 10 in the final set, as the Irish fell at home to a BIG EAST team for just the eighth time since joining the league in 1995 … in 2009, thirty ties and 13 lead changes marked Notre Dame’s 3-1 win over the Golden Eagles, as the Irish were aided by 15 blocks … playing in its second five-set match in as many days, Notre Dame stumbled with a 3-2 loss when the programs met in 2008 … Serinity Phillips narrowly missed out on notching Notre Dame’s first triple-double since 2004, finishing with 25 kills on a .375 average, 10 digs and a career-high nine blocks … the match marked the first time Notre Dame played in consecutive five-set contests against a conference opponents … 2002 Notre Dame graduate Marcie Wolbeck (Waukesha, Catholic Memorial / Milwaukee Sting) remains the only Wisconsin native to ever play for the Irish … against the Golden Eagles on Oct. 3, 1986, Notre Dame finished with a .539 hitting percentage (52 kills, 4 errors, 89 attempts), which still stands as the highest mark in program history in any length match.
Syracuse Orange (17-11 overall – 6-6 BIG EAST)
[suathletics.com – bigeast.org]
Sunday, Nov. 13 – Noon (ET)
Series history: Notre Dame leads, 18-1 (16-0 BIG EAST)
Series streak: Notre Dame, W18
First meeting: 10.22.81 – Syracuse, 3-1
Last meeting: 10.12.10 – Notre Dame, 3-0
– Syracuse downed Notre Dame, 3-1, in the two program’s first-ever meeting in 1981, but it has been all Irish since that showdown … Notre Dame leads 55-11 in sets won, including 51-6 in the BIG EAST era … head coach Debbie Brown collected her 400th win since taking over the Irish program with a 3-1 victory over Syracuse in 2007 … the win was No. 517 overall for Brown … Notre Dame has won the last 18 contests as the two teams will meet for the 17th consecutive season and 20th time overall … the first five-set affair between the schools came in the 1990 Rhode Island Invitational in Providence, with Notre Dame coming out on top in the last frame, 16-14, for its first-ever win over Syracuse … the 2008 matchup also lasted five sets as Notre Dame posted a .377 hitting percentage to set a school record for a five-set match … the previous Notre Dame record for hitting percentage in a five-set match was .346, set versus San Francisco in 1991 … Syracuse recorded eight blocks and held Notre Dame to a season-low 15 points in the opening frame of the 2009 match, but the Irish rallied back to sweep the remaining sets while snapping the Orange’s 10-match home winning streak … the win made Notre Dame 7-0 in four-set matches on the season … the Irish notched five consecutive 3-0 wins over the Orange from 2002-06 … Angie Harris had nine aces in the first BIG EAST contest between the teams in 1995, a record that still stands despite accomplishing the feat in just three sets … the Irish made just one service error in the 1996 matchup … the Irish won by 37 points in 2001 at the Joyce Center, the third-largest margin of victory for Notre Dame under the 30-point format … former Notre Dame libero Meg Henican recorded the school’s second highest dig total (26) in a three-set match against Syracuse in 2005.
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Bump, Set, Spike …
– Notre Dame defeated Rutgers (Nov. 6) to claim a 3-0 Senior Day victory … senior Kristen Dealy finished her final home contest with six kills, including a converted strike on match point … the win came one day after freshman Jeni Houser had a match-high 17 kills and sophomore Andrea McHugh let loose with a double-double (10 kills, 12 digs) to give the Irish a 3-1 win over Seton Hall.
– Less than 24 hours after an exhausting five-set defeat at Connecticut (Oct. 29), Notre Dame recovered to down host St. John’s, 3-1, … with its fourth straight win in the 19-match series with the Red Storm, Notre Dame concluded its recent road escapades that spanned 11,309 miles in the air and on the road since Oct. 8 … Notre Dame failed to convert on three straight attempts at match point while eventually falling to Connecticut, 3-2, to open the weekend … behind 14-11 in the final set, Connecticut outscored the Irish over the stretch by a 7-2 margin … senior Kristen Dealy knocked out a pair of double-doubles on the weekend to bring her season total to six.
– There was not rest for the weary when Notre Dame hit the friendly skies while traveling to No. 8 Hawaii (Oct. 17-18) only to return home for a league bout with USF (Oct. 23) … the Irish dropped both of their matches to the Rainbow Wahine while sweeping the Bulls for their fourth straight league win after beginning the conference slate with a 1-3 mark … Notre Dame hung on to deal the Rainbow Wahine their first home defeat in a set since Sept. 17, snapping their streak of 17-straight victorious frames on the island during a 3-1 loss … senior Kristen Dealy had a match-high 20 scoops during the program’s “Dig Pink” match against USF and notched a double-double (13 kills, 16 digs) during the second of two games at Hawaii … freshman Jeni Houser Notre Dame on the week with 3.10 kills/set while hitting .308 in three matches … Houser pounded Hawaii for 13 kills (.323) in the second match of a twindip on the island and recorded 12 kills (.321) against USF.
– Freshman Toni Alugbue showed no mercy on DePaul (Oct. 14) with 16 kills during a 3-1 win for Notre Dame … Alugbue hit .448 and blocked four shots to earn a spot on the BIG EAST’s Honor Roll for the second straight week.
– Notre Dame went 2-0 during its first BIG EAST roadswing with wins at Pittsburgh and West Virginia (Oct. 8-9) … paving the way for the Irish over host West Virginia was senior Kristen Dealy and her 16 kills … in fact, Dealy hit an eye-popping .533 on the day without an error in 30 attempts … Dealy also added six digs and a pair of blocks for Notre Dame, which snapped a three-match skid with the two wins … after falling behind, 3-0, in the third set against the Mountaineers, Notre Dame proceeded to go on an 18-1 jaunt to answer WVU’s opening spurt … freshman Toni Alugbue, who was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll, had nine kills in each of the two outings while hitting at a .614 rate against the Panthers.
– The Irish dropped each of their two matches while playing host to Cincinnati and Louisville (Oct. 1-2) … with its league record at 1-3, Notre Dame fell under the .500 mark for the first time since joining the BIG EAST in 1995 (save for a loss to start BIG EAST play at Pittsburgh in 2007) … three of the four sets in the match against Cincinnati were decided by three or fewer points, with Notre Dame having set-point in the first two frames before Cincinnati went on a pair of 3-0 runs to win each stanza … senior Kristen Dealy had 11 kills (.257) and 14 digs with sophomore Sammie Brown adding 35 assists and 14 digs against the Bearcats … no one covered as much ground as senior Frenchy Silva in that contest, who was good for a game-high 24 scoops for her second straight 20+ dig performance … sophomore Andrea McHugh led the Irish with 17 kills and freshman Jeni Houser posted 13 more (.333) with four blocks.
– Notre Dame went 1-1 with a loss to Villanova after sweeping Georgetown to open BIG EAST play (Sept. 24-25) … junior Hilary Eppink posted a team-high 10 kills on a .556 clip against the Hoyas … Eppink did not commit an error on 18 swings … Notre Dame stumbled out of the gate and never fully recovered against Villanova … hitting .094 with 11 service errors, Notre Dame fell to the Wildcats, 3-1, during the nationally televised contest on ESPNU with 1,337 fans on hand to watch at Purcell Pavilion … the two teams combined for 23 service errors and Notre Dame failed to record an ace for the first time since facing Northern Iowa on Nov. 7, 2010 … senior Kristen Dealy (25) and Frenchy Silva (22) each eclipsed the 20-dig plateau.
– One day after redeeming a 2010 loss to Western Michigan, Notre Dame swept host Wisconsin to claim the team title at the InnTowner Invitational … senior Kristen Dealy earned MVP honors with senior Frenchy Silva and junior Hilary Eppink earning all-tournament nods … the win on Wisconsin’s home floor was the first ever for the Irish, also giving Notre Dame its first back-to-back wins over the Badgers in the history of the 10-match series.
– Senior Kristen Dealy earned MVP honors at the InnTowner Invite after a strong showing across the board with 3.00 kills/set, 4.29 digs/set and 3.57 points/set.
– Notre Dame’s 1,000-1,000 club inducted a new member in senior Kristen Dealy during a Sept. 16 match against Western Michigan … now with more than 1,000 career kills and 1,000 digs, Dealy is the eighth Irish player ever to join the club and the first since Adrianna Stasiuk did so in 2007.
– Notre Dame is 15-1 all-time in BIG EAST regular-season openers, with the lone loss coming at Pittsburgh to begin the 2007 league slate … all said and done, the Irish are 172-25 (.873) in regular-season play since joining the BIG EAST, including a home record of 95-8 (.922).
– Freshman Jeni Houser was named MVP of the Golden Dome Invitational after leading all players at the four-team event in hitting (.348), kills/set (3.82) and points/set (4.36) … Houser matched a career-high with 19 kills against Portland (Sept. 10) as Notre Dame went 2-1 on the weekend.
– Freshman Toni Alugbue and sophomore Andrea McHugh were named to the Golden Dome Invitational all-tournament team … Alugbue averaged 1.36 blocks/set on the weekend and McHugh shelved a pair of double-doubles and dropped four aces on Portland (Sept. 10).
– A highly efficient and balanced offensive output from Notre Dame helped produce a 3-0 win over visiting Lipscomb (Sept. 9) as the Irish hit .549 as a squad, committing just two errors on 91 swings with 52 kills … with the effort from above the net, Notre Dame set a program record for hitting pct. in a three-set match … the previous best (.539) was set against Marquette in 1986 … it was also the first time the Irish hit over .500 in a contest since a 3-0 win versus DePaul in 2005 … even more, Notre Dame’s side-out pct. on the evening was .840, which included a 12-for-12 effort in the first set.
– Sophomore Sammie Brown became the 11th player in Notre Dame history to record at least 1,000 assists in a career, doing so with a 32-assist effort against Portland (Sept. 10).
– Notre Dame dropped each of its two matches at the Stanford Invitational (Sept. 2-3), falling to both the host Cardinal and St. Mary’s (Calif.).
– Freshman Jeni Houser pounded No. 6 Stanford for a team- and career-high 19 kills … the slugger averaged 3.57 kills/set in the two matches on the West Coast to earn a spot on the Stanford Invitational All-Tournament team.
– Notre Dame opened the season with three wins at the Shamrock Invitational (Aug. 26-28) for its best start to a campaign since 2006 … Notre Dame dropped the second set in each of its 3-1 wins over Eastern Michigan, Idaho and Butler … the victory over Butler was the program’s 300th home win … Notre Dame is 302-95 (.760) all-time on its home floor.
– Senior Frenchy Silva, junior Hilary Eppink and sophomore Andrea McHugh were each named to the Shamrock Invitational All-Tournament team … in fact, McHugh was named the tournament’s MVP one day prior to shelving Player of the Week honors from the BIG EAST Conference … McHugh led the Irish with 58 kills in three tournament matches and posted a career-best 25 kills to go along with 13 digs against Idaho … McHugh averaged 4.83 kills and 3.92 digs/set while recording double-digit kills in all three weekend matches.
– A 22-dig performance against Butler (Aug. 28) put senior Frenchy Silva over the 1,000-mark for her career … what’s more, Silva’s 3.36 digs/set average is fourth all-time, and senior Kristen Dealy’s 3.06 digs/set clip ranks fifth … that makes the duo the only classmates ever to rank among the top 10 in digs/set.
– With an Aug. 26 win over Eastern Michigan to begin the 2011 campaign, Notre Dame is 25-7 (20-1 under head coach Debbie Brown) in home openers.
– Notre Dame was picked to finish second in league play according to the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll … the Irish received one first-place vote.
– Co-captains for the 2011 season are seniors Kristen Dealy and Frenchy Silva.
– Senior Kristen Dealy was a preseason all-BIG EAST choice along with sophomore Andrea McHugh.
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