Sept. 17, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – What appeared to be a 3-0 win in the making turned into a five-set loss for the Notre Dame volleyball team Friday evening at Purcell Pavilion, as the Irish dropped a 3-2 (18-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-17, 15-11) decision to Delaware. The Blue Hens (7-3) battled back from Notre Dame’s match point at 24-20 in the third set to score six unanswered to capture the frame. Delaware used that momentum to score the first seven points of the fourth set and went on to win the last two stanzas.
The Irish (7-3) now look ahead to 7:00 p.m. (ET) contest Saturday (Sept. 18) with Santa Clara on the second day of the Notre Dame Invitational. Live video, audio and stats will be available at UND.com.
Not lost in the mix of the defeat was an outstanding effort by junior Kristen Dealy who went for 24 kills and 25 digs, career-high numbers in both categories. Dealy had 17 kills at the break after slamming down 11 in the second set. Her final totals signified the 19th time in 31 seasons of varsity competition at Notre Dame that a player posted a 20-20 output (kills, digs or assists). The last to do so was Adrianna Stasiuk against Cincinnati in 2006.
Dealy was joined on the offensive end by freshman Andrea McHugh (12 kills) and senior Kellie Sciacca (15 kills). McHugh added 14 digs for a double-double and Sciacca had a hand on five blocks, including two solo. Junior Frenchy Silva also had a career evening with 24 digs, and senior Angela Puente added 12.
Delaware had three players – Paige Erickson, Kim Stewart and Katie Dennehy – with at least 10 kills and four players with at least five blocks. The Blue Hens’ blocking came through in the stretch, as they out-stuffed Notre Dame by a 14.5-11.0 margin. However, Notre Dame (.160) out-hit Delaware (.155). It also was the first time Notre Dame posted at least 90 digs since a 2007 match at LSU.
Dealy scored the first point of the first set as Notre Dame built an 8-3 lead. She had kills at 17-9 and 18-10 to increase that lead to eight points, and finished the Blue Hens with a strike on set point.
The second set played out almost the same, as Dealy connected on the first and final kills of the period while sandwiching nine converted attempts between the two.
Freshman Sammie Brown had 40 assist and three kills, one of which came in the third set on Dealy’s dish to give Notre Dame match point at 24-20. The Irish then committed four attack errors as Delaware took six straight for the win.
The Blue Hens proceeded to score seven straight in the fourth and 12 of the first 14.
Tied at 7-7 in the fifth, Delaware posted a five-spot to go ahead, 12-7, en route to the win.
–ND–