Nov. 13, 2010
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Notre Dame rolled to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-8, 25-12) BIG EAST Conference volleyball win Saturday morning over Rutgers at College Street Gymnasium. Senior middle blocker Kellie Sciacca had eight block assists with five kills, as freshman Maggie Brindock had a career day with 25 assists, three aces and eight blocks.
Notre Dame now leads the all-time series with Rutgers, 18-0 (16-0 in regular-season league contests).
The Irish (16-11 overall, 9-4 BIG EAST) finished with 11 aces from five different players, the third outing with a double-digit output in the category on the season (and second in a three-set match). Notre Dame faulted just twice from behind the service stripe.
Junior Kristen Dealy tacked on 11 kills (.429) in one of her better hitting outings of the season. She also had three aces and fell short of a double-double with nine digs.
Nine kills, seven digs and two aces came from freshman Andrea McHugh, and junior Hilary Eppink tossed in five kills on eight errorless swings.
Rutgers (10-17, 2-11) scored the first point of the opening frame and held its ground for a while. McHugh aced the Scarlet Knights at 10-5, part of a 5-0 Irish spurt to put the set out of reach. McHugh added another ace at 20-15 and ended the period with a kill on set point.
An Irish service error early in the second made it 5-3 in favor of the visitors, a lead that would expand to double digits after a 10-0 run. McHugh had five kills before Notre Dame reached the 20-point mark.
Sciacca had eight blocks at intermission with Brindock adding seven at that phase of the match. The Irish hit .600 (16-1-25) in the second set and .377 for the match.
Brindock had three consecutive aces during a 6-0 jaunt to start the third, and junior Frenchy Silva added her second ace of the match to make it 10-5.
Silva finished with a match-high 17 digs to go along with two aces.
Notre Dame blocked 12.0 shots on the day without a solo stuff.
Caitlin Saxton and Alex Jones, each of whom had six kills, led Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights hit .032 and aced the Irish on one occasion.
Notre Dame closes out the regular-season league schedule Sunday (Nov. 14) at Seton Hall. First serve will be at 2:00 p.m. (ET).
–ND–