Nov. 5, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Senior All-American MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) had 17 kills on .481 hitting to lead the fifth-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s volleyball team (22-1, 11-0 BIG EAST) to a 30-22, 30-20, 30-17 victory against West Virginia (15-11, 4-8) Saturday afternoon. The Irish have now won 15 consecutive matches and will return to action on Sunday in the final road match of the regular season, facing league-rival Pittsburgh at 2 p.m. (EST).
Notre Dame had a strong match offensively, as sophomore setter Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos H.S.) led her offense to 56 kills – a season-high in a three-game affair – and a .308 attack percentage. She finished with 41 assists. Brewster converted more than half of her 27 attempts for kills, while senior OH Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) added nine kills. Senior MB/OPP Carolyn Cooper (Houston, Texas/Lutheran South Academy) and sophomore OH Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South H.S.) both contributed eight kills. The older player did hers on only 17 attempts for a .412 hitting mark. Sophomore OH Ellen Heintzman (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) had six kills, while freshman OH Mallorie Croal (Villa Park, Calif./Mater Dei H.S.) put all of her four swings down for kills.
The Irish defense used 58 digs (19.3 digs per game) and seven blocks to hold West Virginia to .083 hitting, the seventh time this season an ND opponent has hit below .100. No player for the Mountaineers posted a hitting mark above .200 and just two hit .100+. Senior co-captain and libero Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.) led that effort with 23 digs, her second-highest total in a three-game match this season. Stasiuk had 14 digs, while Tarutis added 10 for her 12th double-double of the season. Cooper led the Irish blocking effort, with four blocks, including three of the solo variety. Brewster was in on three blocks.
Cooper also led the Irish at the service line, serving up three aces without making an error. Notre Dame finished with five aces and seven errors as a team, with Kelbley and Henican also contributing aces.
Brewster led all players with 18.5 points, while Cooper had 14.5.
Notre Dame stands 22-1 for the first time in school history and is now in the midst of the second-longest winning streak in program history, just two shy of a 17-match winning stretch in 1986.
#5 Notre Dame (22-1, 11-0) 30-30-30West Virginia (15-11, 4-8) 22-20-17
Kills: ND 56 (Brewster 17), WVU 27 (Zolna 11)Attack Percentage: ND .308 (Brewster .481), WVU .083 (Zolna .194)Assists: ND 51 (Tarutis 41), WVU 26 (Goold 14)Service Aces-Errors: ND 5-7 (Cooper 3), WVU 0-8Digs: ND 58 (Henican 23), WVU 40 (Tevis 12)Blocks: ND 7 (Cooper 4), WVU 4 (Hockenson 4)Points: ND 68 (Brewster 18.5), WVU 31 (Zolna 11)Attendance: 118