Sept. 18, 2005
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The eighth-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s volleyball team (7-1) rallied after losing the first two games and saved four match points before eventually losing a marathon fifth game to Louisiana State (10-1), falling 30-28, 30-22, 23-30, 26-30, 20-18 Sunday in the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic in G. Rollie White Coliseum. The Tigers, who are receiving votes in the AVCA poll this week for the first time in nearly a decade, gave Notre Dame its first defeat of the season. The Irish will return to action next Sunday, opening the BIG EAST Conference slate by playing host to Seton Hall at 1 p.m. (EST/CDT) in the Joyce Center.
Louisiana State stopped Notre Dame’s momentum – which had carried the Irish to wins in games three and four – early in the decisive game, going up by four on two occasions early (7-3 and 10-6). The Tigers led 13-10, but a kill by ND senior co-captain OH Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.), an error by LSU, and a block from Irish senior middle blockers Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) and Carolyn Cooper (Houston, Texas/Lutheran South Academy) evened the score at 13-13. A block by Ivana Kuzmic and Kyna Washington on Brewster gave LSU its first match point, but that was erased by an error by Jelena Mijatovic. A Marina Skender kill set up match point #2, but Henican saved that one with a kill. Brewster and freshman OH Mallorie Croal (Villa Park, Calif./Mater Dei H.S.) blocked Skender on the next point to give ND a 16-15 advantage and its only opportunity to end the match. But an attack error by Croal tied the score. Mijatovic and Brewster traded kills to make it 17-17, and the fourth LSU match point – set up by a kill from Vanessa Freeman – went by the wayside due to a Mijatovic service error. With the score 18-18, Notre Dame made a pair of attack errors – by Croal and senior OH Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) – to hand the Tigers the victory.
The fifth game – the longest played by Notre Dame since winning 21-19 in the decisive game at Pittsburgh on Nov. 14, 1998 – featured plentiful offensive struggles for both teams. Notre Dame had just five kills and 11 errors for a -.214 attack percentage, while LSU had nine kills and 10 errors (-.036). Twelve of those 21 combined errors came as the result of blocks, as the Tigers registered eight blocks and ND had four. Skender had four kills in the decisive game for the Tigers, while Ivana Kuzmic was in on four of the blocks. It snapped a streak of three consecutive game-five victories for Notre Dame.
LSU controlled the net at some key times and finished with an advantage in virtually every statistical category. The Tigers had 25 more kills (85-60) than Notre Dame and also came out ahead in both digs (80-77) and blocks (18-13) vs. the only team in Division I that ranked among the top 10 nationally in both of those categories heading into the week. All but three of those Louisiana State blocks came in either the first or fifth games. LSU had several stars, with Mijatovic finishing with 25 kills and 14 digs, while Kuzmic took part in 13 blocks. Also, Skender had 19 kills on .432 hitting to go with five blocks, while Washington had 17 kills, 11 digs, and seven blocks.
The one area where Notre Dame shined – again – was at the service line. The Irish finished with eight aces and just seven service errors, while LSU had six aces and 13 errors. Notre Dame was led by Kelbley, who had three aces, while Henican and sophomore S Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos H.S.) had two apiece and Croal added an ace. Tarutis did not make a service error. It was the second straight match – and third time this season – that Notre Dame had more aces than service errors. The Irish put 94.6% of their season-high 129 serves into the court, their highest percentage since missing just four of 88 serves (making 95.5%) in last year’s BIG EAST final vs. Pittsburgh. On the season, ND is averaging 1.74 aces and 2.26 errors per game or 1.29 errors for every ace. The Irish are allowing fewer than one service ace (0.94) per game.
Despite some fifth-game errors, the Irish got a strong day hitting from Croal, who had a collegiate-high 19 kills to go with 16 digs and four blocks for a season-high 22.5 points. Brewster added 14 kills and five blocks, while Kelbley had 10 kills and four blocks. Henican added eight kills and 14 digs, while Cooper notched six kills and six blocks.
Sophomore libero Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South H.S.) led the floor game with 24 digs. She has now had 20+ digs in three of the last four matches after having not done that previously in her career. ND had four players in double figures in digs.
Tarutis ended with 53 assists, and her offense hit .156. She added 13 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
LSU started quickly, winning the first four points of the opening game and staying in front for most of the time. Notre Dame appeared as though it would continue its trend of taking tight games with strong play at the end, when it finally moved ahead for the first time at 25-24. The teams traded the next four points, and the Irish led 27-26, but this time it was LSU that finished well, winning four of the final five points – including a kill by Kuzmic on game point – to take the opening game. Skender had six kills in the game, and the Tigers managed seven blocks, with Kuzmic taking part in all of them. That contributed in holding Notre Dame to .091 hitting. Croal had six kills for the Irish.
Notre Dame won the first two points of game two, but from then on, it was all LSU, which went up by as many as 10 (20-10) en route to moving within a game of victory. The Tigers had 21 kills – seven from Mijatovic – on .381 hitting in the game.
The third game was tight most of the way, but ND broke a 23-23 deadlock by winning seven consecutive points to take the game. Stasiuk’s serving keyed that run, which included a pair of blocks by the combination of Kelbley and Tarutis, as well as two kills from Croal. The rookie had seven kills on 10 errorless swings (.700) in the game, while Stasiuk registered seven of ND’s 21 digs.
Game four also was back and forth, featuring 17 ties and nine lead changes. Notre Dame took the lead for good at 22-21 and went on to force a fifth game. The Irish hit .368 in the game.
Louisiana State (10-1) 30-30-23-26-20#8 Notre Dame (7-1) 28-22-30-30-18
Kills: LSU 85 (Mijatovic 25), ND 60 (Croal 19)Attack Pct.: LSU .183 (Skender .432), ND .156 (Cooper .208)Assists: LSU 79 (Fierce 34), ND 56 (Tarutis 53)Service Aces-Errors: LSU 6-13 (Mijatovic 2), ND 8-7 (Kelbley 3)Digs: LSU 80 (Fierce 19), ND 77 (Stasiuk 24)Blocks: LSU 18 (Kuzmic 13), ND 13 (Cooper 6)Points: LSU 109 (Mijatovic 27), ND 81 (Croal 22.5)