September 4, 1998

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame opened the Shamrock Invitational with a 13-15, 15-6, 16-18, 15-3, 15-8 win over Georgia at Joyce Center Arena before almost 400 people.

The 16th-ranked Irish moved to 2-0 on the season with the five-game, come-from-behind win. Notre Dame hit a combined .272 and had 17 blocks to Georgia’s .044 hitting percentage and eight blocks. Notre Dame sophomore Jo Jameyson (Alvin, Texas) posted career-highs in attack attempts (29) and block assists (10), while Christi Girton (Muncie, Ind.) led the team in kills with 17, hitting just one error in 34 attempts. All together, four Irish players hit over .400 including Denise Boylan (Lisle, Ill.), Girton, Lindsay Treadwell (Austin, Texas) and Kristy Kreher (Birmingham, Mich.).

Of the five games played, two were especially close including game one. In that game, the Irish were up 6-2. Georgia, behind the serving game of Mindi Westfall, then crept back to take the lead at 9-8. The score was then tied four times, including at 13-13, before the Bulldogs were able to score the game’s final two points.

With the Irish tying the game at one apiece, the two teams scored a combined 34 points in the third game, with Georgia winning 18-16 following two kills from Kathy Vis and a block by Vis and Westfall.

In the fourth game, Irish head coach Debbie Brown started two freshman, Kreher and Marcie Bomhack (Waukesha, Wisc.), which ignited the team to a 15-3 victory. In that game, Kreher served four-straight points to put Notre Dame up 5-2. After two sideouts, Bomhack continued the strong Irish serving game with five points, pushing the Irish lead to 10-2, while Treadwell served three points of her own on the next service rotation. Notre Dame put the game away with a block by Kreher and Treadwell for point 14 and a hitting error by Vis to win game four.

In game five, Notre Dame used the offense of Bomhack, Kreher and Treadwell to win the point-per-serve game and the match with a 15-8 victory.

The next match of the three-team Shamrock Invitational features a Saturday game between Georgia and 12th-ranked Colorado at 5 p.m. Notre Dame will bein action next on Sunday in a top-ranked showdown with Colorado at 2 p.m.