Nov. 4, 2000
The University of Notre Dame volleyball team (20-5, 9-0 in the BIG EAST) won its sixth-consecutive match with a three-game sweep (15-6, 15-13, 15-4) over North Carolina (22-6). The Irish have now reached the 20-win plateau in nine of head coach Debbie Brown’s 10 years with the team.
The Irish continued their hot-hitting from Friday night’s sweep of Boston College. Against North Carolina, Notre Dame hit .349 (53 kills, 16 errors, 106 attempts) after boasting a .391 hitting mark against the Eagles the night before. Senior setter Denise Boylan (Lisle, Ill.) totaled 41 assists against the Tar Heels, while also coming up with a match-high nine digs.
Senior Christi Girton (Muncie, Ind.) and junior Marcie Bomhack (Waukesha, Wis.) were the major benefactors of Boylan’s ball control. Girton posted a match-high 17 kills while putting on a powerful hitting display. She also had eight digs and two blocks.
Bomhack played a perfect complement to Girton’s power-hitting with some highly accurate attacks. She had 16 kills in the contest on .483 hitting (16 kills, two errors on 29 attempts) while also posting five blocks.
Notre Dame opened the match on fire, shooting out to a 11-1 game-one lead to set the tone for the night. Three kills and a block from Bomhack keyed the scoring surge for the Irish. Girton would close-out game one for Notre Dame with three consecutive kills.
Game two turned into a see-saw affair until the Irish jumped ahead 12-6. North Carolina battled back to tie the match at 13-13 before Bomhack performed one of her two solo blocks in the match to send the Irish to game point. A Tar Heel hitting error put the Irish ahead in the match 2-0.
Girton assumed control in game three to seal the match for Notre Dame. Three kills, a block and an ace from the Irish co-captain put the game and the match out of reach for the Tar Heels.
Other standouts on the evening for the Irish were junior middle blocker Malinda Goralski (Missouri City, Texas), who had nine kills and five blocks, and classmate Kristy Kreher (Birmingham, Mich.), who had seven kills, six digs and two blocks.
Notre Dame will be back in action tomorrow, Nov. 5, when BIG EAST foe Providence visits the Joyce Center. The match is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m.