November 3, 1998

SHOWDOWN WITH GEORGETOWN: In what is probably the most critical game this season for the Notre Dame womens volleyball team (10-11 overall, 6-1 in the BIG EAST), the Irish host first-place Georgetown on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Joyce Center Arena. The Hoyas are currently 7-0 on the season in the BIG EAST and defeated second-place Connecticut in five games two weeks ago. That means that the second-place Irish will need a win if they have a chance of capturing their fourth-consecutive BIG EAST title.

If the Irish beat the Hoyas and neither Notre Dame, Georgetown or Connecticut loses the rest of the regular season, there will be a three-way tie for first place. Who gets crowned BIG EAST champion and who gets the top seed at the conference tournament could then be decided on the percentage of conference games won. Right now the Irish have won 83 percent, the Hoyas have won 75 percent and the Huskies have won 67 percent of their total conference games played.

BROWN LOOKS FOR, SEES AND GETS 200: Although Irish coach Debbie Brown would have liked to get her 200th win at Notre Dame versus Oral Roberts, Brown got number 200 against Syracuse on Sunday instead. Browns career record at Notre Dame now stands at 200-69, while her overall record is 317-152.

SUNDAY SPLIT: The team split their two games last week, losing for the third time this season by just two points in the fifth and deciding game versus Oral Roberts and then getting back into the win column on Sunday against Syracuse.

The Oral Roberts ended on somewhat of a disputed call. The Irish had comeback from a 11-14 deficit in the rally-scoring fifth game to pull to 13-14. On the next play, the Golden Eagles scored on a kill by Juliana Moser to win the match following a controversial dig by teammate Debora dos Santos on a shot by Lindsay Treadwell (Austin, Texas). On that play, dos Santos appeared to hit the ball twice on the dig, however, the officials let play continue, allowing Moser to put the ball away for her teams 18th-straight victory.

The Irish got career performances from a number of players. Emily Schiebout (Blaine, Minn.) had a career-high nine blocks and 15 digs, while Christi Girton (Muncie, Ind.) added a career best 14 digs. Setter Michelle Graham (Austin, Texas), who started in her second consecutive match, had a career-high 49 assists. Senior captain Lindsay Treadwell also added her 10th double-double of the season (raising her career total to 23) with a 13 kills, 17 dig performance. Schiebout and Girton also had double-double marking the first time this season that three Irish players ended with double-doubles.

The team rebounded on Sunday to defeat Syracuse in a BIG EAST conference match. Jo Jameyson (Alvin, Texas) put on a defensive show with a career and team season high 20 digs, while Girton led the team with 15 kills.

BOYLAN STILL OUT: Sophomore setter Denise Boylan will be out of action for at least two more weeks after spraining ligaments in her right elbow in practice on October 24 during blocking drills. Boylan, who played in all 34 games last season, missed last weeks matches with Oral Roberts and Syracuse and was out for the Boston College game.

SCOUTING THE HOYAS: Georgetown enters this weekends match in first place in the BIG EAST with a 7-0 record and is 20-3 overall. The Hoyas are also ranked first in the district and received seven votes in the latest USA Today/AVCA poll. Georgetown has been pushed to five games in both of their last two matches against Connecticut and Villanova. The Hoyas have been pushed to five games six times this season, coming out on top four times. The teams only losses have come to Michigan (1-3), Maryland (2-3) and Virginia (1-3).

Leading the way for Georgetown are Kiran Gill, Melissa Tytko and Yulia Vtyurina. Gill averages 4.44 kills per game (first in the BIG EAST) and also is second in the conference with 0.55 aces per game. Tytko is hitting .410 and is leading the team in blocks with 97 or 1.10 per game. Vtyurina, meanwhile, has been named BIG EAST newcomer of the week five times and averages 3.90 kills per game on .333 hitting. Vyturina, who is from Moscow, Russia, additionally leads her team in digs with 2.85 per game.

The all-times series between the two schools stands at 5-0 in favor of the Irish. Led by Angie Harris 11 kills in 1997, the Irish swept the Hoyas in three games, 15-2, 15-8, 15-2. Since Notre Dame joined the BIG EAST, they have not lost even a game to the Hoyas.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: Despite its 3-4 record in the BIG EAST, Villanova has pushed three teams (West Virginia, Connecticut and Georgetown) to five games. The Wildcats scored big wins against Georgia (3-1) and Rice (3-1) earlier this season, but fell to BIG EAST conference foes West Virginia, Georgetown, Connecticut and St. Johns.

Villanova is under the direction of first-year head coach Heather Hohen and is lead by Megan OBrien who averages a team-leading 4.12 kills per game on .235 hitting and has a team-best 28 service aces. OBrien also averages 3.97 digs per game, while setter Cathy Arnette averages 12.87 assists per game.

The Irish are also a perfect 5-0 against the Wildcats. The last meeting between the two teams was in the BIG EAST Tournament finale, which Notre Dame won 3-1 behind the efforts of tournament MVP Jaimie Lees 29 kills.

HEAD COACH DEBBIE BROWN: Brown, in her eighth season at Notre Dame, currently has a 200-69 record at Notre Dame and a 317-152 career record. Browns head coaching career also includes a six-year stay at her alma mater, Arizona State (1983-88).

BIG EAST Conference Top Five

Individual               TeamBIG EAST MATCHES ONLY Hitting                  Hitting2. Kristy Kreher (.381)         1. Notre Dame (.260)Blocking             Blocking2. Lindsay Treadwell (1.58/g)       1. Notre Dame (3.65/g)Assists5. Denise Boylan (11.68/g)ALL MATCHESHitting              Hitting4. Lindsay Treadwell (.308)     4. Notre Dame (.226)Blocking             Blocking        3. Lindsay Treadwell (1.27/g)       1. Notre Dame (3.30/g)Assists                  Kills4. Denise Boylan (11.52/g)      5. Notre Dame (14.70/g)                Assists                    5. Notre Dame (13.24/g)
Tentative Starting LineupSetter - Michelle Graham, So. (Austin, Texas)Middle Blocker - Lindsay Treadwell, Sr. (Austin, Texas)Middle Blocker - Mary Leffers, Jr. (Tampa, Fla.)Outside hitter - Jo Jameyson, So. (Alvin, Texas)Outside hitter -Christi Girton, So. (Muncie, Ind.)Opposite -  Emily Schiebout, Jr. (Blaine, Minn.)
USA Today/AVCATop 25 PollAs of Nov. 3, 1998
R School                Prev. Rank1. Long Beach State (22-0)  12. Penn St. (22-0)      23. Nebraska (21-0)      34. BYU (21-1)           45. Stanford (19-2)      56. Florida (22-2)       67. UCSB (22-3)          78. Wisconsin (20-3)     89. Hawaii (18-2)        910. Pacific (19-4)      1011. USC (15-4)          1112. Texas (17-3)        1213. Colorado (17-2)     1314. Arkansas (19-3)     1415. Illinois (16-6)     1716. Michigan St. (16-4)     1817. USD (18-3)          2018. Arizona (18-4)      1619. LMU (15-6)          1520. UCLA (9-10)         2321. Kansas St. (14-7)       2122. Texas A&M (12-8)        1923. Minnestoa (15-8)        2524. Texas Tech (17-8)       NR25. Louisville (18-4)       22
Others: Northern Iowa, Colorado State, North Carolina,Miami (Ohio), Florida State, Santa Calara, Ohio State,Oral Roberts, Fairfield, Sacramento State, Northern Illinois,Georgetown, Arizona State, Western Michigan, San Jose State,South Carolina, Auburn, Eastern Washington, Nevada, Indiana,Rice, South Florida.
Volleyball Magazine Top 20Nov. 2, 1998R School                Prev. Rank1. Long Beach St. (22-0)    12. Penn State (22-0)        23. Nebraska (21-0)      34. Stanford (19-2)      45. BYU (21-1)           56. Texas (17-3)         67. Colorado(17-2)       78. Florida (22-2)       89. UCSB (22-3)          910. Hawaii (18-2)       1011. Wisconsin (20-3)        1112. USC (15-4)          1213. Pacific (19-4)      1314. Arkansas (19-3)     1715. USD (18-3)          1516. Arizona (18-4)      1417. LMU (16-5)          1618. Illinois (16-6)     1819. Michigan St. (16-4)     NR20. Northern Iowa (20-2)    NR
National Attendance Averages Nov. 2, 19981. Hawaii       5,9492. Nebraska     3,5763. Illinois St.     2,6554. Penn State       2,3845. Wisconsin        2,3126. Florida      2,1237. Long Beach State 2,0848. Texas        1,9629. Pacific      1,93810. Stanford        1,886
AVCA/SagarinDivision I Power Rating 8/30 - Notre Dame (#19)9/16 - Notre Dame (#52)9/20 - Notre Dame (#72)9/27 - Notre Dame (#70)10/4 - Notre Dame (#73)10/18 - Notre Dame (#63)10/25 - Notre Dame (#64)
AVCA PLAYER OF THE WEEKWk 1: Jenny Manz (Florida)Wk 2: Kim Exner (E. Wash.)Wk 3: Benishe Dillard (LBSU)Wk 4: Demitria Sance (Texas)Wk 5: Kim Storey (Arkansas)Wk 6: Petia Yanchulova (USD)Wk 7: Kristee Porter (UCLA)Wk 8: Jenna Wrobel (Mich. St.)Wk 9: Tiffany Carrethers (Rice)
BIG EAST CONFERENCE(As of Nov. 2, 1998)Team         BEGeorgetown (20-3)   7-0Connecticut (18-10) 6-1 NOTRE DAME (10-11)  6-1Rutgers (13-9)      5-2Pittsburgh (13-11)  3-4Providence (14-12)  3-4Villanova (11-12)   3-4West Virginia (10-13)   3-4Seton Hall (10-12)  3-4Syracuse (17-10)    2-5St. Johns (14-15)   1-6Boston College (10-14)  0-7
BIG EASTPLAYER OF THE WEEKWeek 1: Lindsay Treadwell (ND) Wk 2: Annette Ryan (UCONN) & Melissa Tytko  (Georgetown) Wk 3: Kerri Potts (Syracuse) Wk 4: Marcia Thiesen (Pitt.) & Megan OBrien (Villanova)Wk 5: Annette Ryan (UCONN) Wk 6: Sheri Kujawa (Rutgers)Wk 7: Connie Chae (St. Johns) & Rachel Watson (Syracuse)Wk 8: Christi Girton (ND) & Kiran Gill (Georgetown)Wk 9: Lola Opadiran (Rutgers) & Annette Rynn (UCONN)
BIG EASTROOKIE OF THE WEEKWk 1: Noreen Carroll (Syracuse)Wk 2: Stasha Levi (St. Johns)Wk 3: Yulia Vtyurina (Georgetown)Wk 4: Stasha Levi (St. Johns)Wk 5: Yulia Vtyurina (Georgetown)Wk 6: Yulia Vtyurina (Georgetown)Wk 7: Kristy Mercein (St. Johns)Wk 8: Yulia Vtyurina (Georgetown)Wk 9: Yulia Vtyurina (Georgetown)