Senior co-captain Lauren Brewster and the Irish will be featured on CSTV's national-match-of-the-week package for the third consecutive season when they face #11 Texas on Saturday in the Joyce Center.

Irish Set For The Inn At Saint Mary's Shamrock Invitational, Including Saturday CSTV Match vs. #11 Texas

Aug. 31, 2005

Shamrock Invitational Notes in PDF Format
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The Inn at Saint Mary's Shamrock InvitationalNotre Dame, Indiana • Joyce CenterFriday, September 2Arizona State (1-2) vs. #11 Texas (0-0), 7 p.m. (EST/CDT)

Saturday, September 3Notre Dame (1-0) vs. #11 Texas, 5 p.m. (EST/CDT)- Television: College Sports Television (shown Sunday at 6 p.m. EDT)- Live Audio: www.und.com- Real-Time Statistics: www.und.com- Free Shamrock Invitational parking signs to the first 500 fans, courtesy of The Innat Saint Mary'sSunday, September 4Notre Dame vs. Arizona State, 2 p.m. (EST/CDT)- Live Audio: www.und.com- Real-Time Statistics: www.und.com- Free Shamrock Invitational parking signs to the first 500 fans, courtesy of The Innat Saint Mary's- Free youth clinic, sponsored by the South Bend Tribune, for grades 1-8 immediatelyfollowing the match

IRISH SET FOR THE INN AT SAINT MARY’S SHAMROCK INVITATIONAL, INCLUDING SATURDAY CSTV MATCH vs. #11 TEXAS: The University of Notre Dame women’s volleyball team (1-0), which swept Michigan on Saturday to win its season opener for the 15th consecutive season, will play host to the 11th edition of the Shamrock Invitational, sponsored by The Inn at Saint Mary’s, this weekend. Play will begin on Friday, with Arizona State (1-2) and #11 Texas (0-0) playing at 7 p.m. (EST/CDT) in the Joyce Center. The Irish and Longhorns will face off on Saturday at 5 p.m. in a match to be shown on College Sports Television (airing Sunday at 6 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. in South Bend), while ND and ASU will cap the tournament on Sunday with a 2 p.m. contest.

THE TELEVISION PLANS: Saturday’s Notre Dame-Texas match will be televised by College Sports Television and aired on a tape-delayed basis as part of its Sunday Night Spikes national-match-of-the-week package on Sunday at 6 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. in South Bend). It will re-air at 10 p.m. on Sunday, 11 a.m. on Monday, and 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday (all times for South Bend). Erica Herskowitz (play-by-play) and Anne Marie Anderson (analysis) will have the call, with Chris Glass producing and directing. For information on availability of CSTV, see cstv.com.

THE RADIO PLANS: Notre Dame’s official athletics website, und.com, will feature live internet audio broadcasts of all 14 Irish volleyball home matches, as well as one road tilt, in 2005. Stephen Hinkel and Chris Masters, two former collegiate volleyball sports information directors and veterans of announcing Notre Dame volleyball, will have the call for both Shamrock Invitational matches involving Notre Dame. Broadcasts are available to subscribers of Fighting Irish All-Access (details on und.com).

REAL-TIME STATS: Live in-game statistics, courtesy of College Sports Online’s GameTracker, will be made available for all three matches of The Inn at Saint Mary’s Shamrock Invitational, via the Notre Dame athletics web site, www.und.com.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS NOTES PACKAGE: Below are some of the top points from this notes package. For more details on any topic, consult the remainder of this release.

* Notre Dame opened its 2005 season on Saturday with a 30-24, 30-16, 30-26 home victory against Michigan. Leading the Irish were senior middle blockers Lauren Brewster (16 kills, .412, 6 blocks) and Lauren Kelbley (15 kills, .361, 3 aces), plus senior OH Meg Henican (22 digs) and sophomore setter Ashley Tarutis (.271 team hitting, 40 assists, 12 digs, 3 blocks).

* Notre Dame is coming off a 2004 season in which it went 21-9 and finished 17th in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), but listed 33rd in the AVCA national poll. The Irish won the regular-season (9-1 record) and tournament titles in the BIG EAST Conference and earned their 13th consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship, beating Valparaiso in the opening round before falling to eventual quarterfinalist Wisconsin on the Badgers’ home floor.

* The Irish returned nine of their top 10 players (in terms of games played) from the `04 squad. That included six of their seven starters. The major loss to graduation was Emily Loomis, a four-year starter on the front row who finished her career fifth on the Notre Dame career kills list (1,321).

* Notre Dame placed just outside of the the USA Today/CSTV Coaches Preseason Top 25, presented by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). The Irish are listed 27th, as the second team receiving votes outside of the top 25. Notre Dame came in with 118 points, while Pepperdine was 25th with 177 (Kansas State received 123). The Irish were last ranked in the `04 preseason poll, at 25th, but received votes at various points throughout last season, finishing listed 33rd.

* For the first time in 11 years of being a league member, Notre Dame was not the preseason favorite of the head coaches to win the BIG EAST Conference, as the Irish were picked to finish second behind newcomer Louisville. The Irish and Cardinals will play on Oct. 29 in the Joyce Center.

* Senior co-captain MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) was voted the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year. A fourth-year starter and the 2003 NCAA blocking champ, she became Notre Dame’s second All-American in 2004 (its first to earn honors from the AVCA) after being the BIG EAST tournament MVP and ending as one of just two Division I players to average over 1.50 blocks (1.54) and 1.50 digs (2.18) in `04.

* Joining Brewster on the preseason all-BIG EAST team was senior OH/MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.). She is one of just two Division I players (also Minnesota libero Paula Gentil) to have been an AVCA all-region selection in each of the last three years and is the only player among the top five on the Irish career kill average (5th, 3.27) and hitting percentage (5th, .293) lists.

* Another top returnee for the Irish is senior co-captain and third-year starter L/OH Meg Henican, who broke Irish marks for digs in a season (553), season dig average (4.94), digs in any-length match (37 in four games vs. Seton Hall on Oct. 10, 2004), and digs in an NCAA tournament match (27 vs. Valparaiso in `04 first round).

* Other starters returning for the Irish are senior MB/OPP Carolyn Cooper (Houston, Texas/Lutheran South Academy) and sophomores OPP Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South H.S.) and S Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos H.S.). The team is 17-2 when Cooper is in the starting lineup, while Stasiuk was twice the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week in `04 (as well as the first ND player since `98 to register a triple-double) and Tarutis took over as the team’s starting setter in the third match of her collegiate career.

* Notre Dame ranked in the top five in Division I in team block average for the fourth consecutive season in 2004, ending up fourth (3.37 per game), and it has back eight of its top nine blockers from that group. The Irish led the nation in 2003 (3.72) after being second in `02 (3.66) and fifth in `01 (3.53). Senior MB Lauren Brewster was the `03 national individual blocking champ (1.78 per game), and she also was fourth in `02 (1.68) and 21st in `04 (1.54).

* In 2004, Notre Dame was tops among BIG EAST teams in conference play in hitting percentage (.254, sixth straight year leading league), opponent hitting percentage (.134, led league in all six years since statistic debuted), and blocks (3.61, fourth straight year leading league). Individually, current senior MB Lauren Brewster was first in blocking in league action (1.66) for the third consecutive season (1.93 in `03, 1.90 in `02). In overall statistics, the Irish were first in blocking (3.37), and Brewster was tops in individual blocking (1.54) for the third straight year, as well (1.78 in `03, 1.68 in `02; ND’s Malinda Goralski was first in `01 at 1.66).

* Notre Dame’s serve-receiving unit has been outstanding over the past two campaigns, due largely to the efforts of senior co-captain L/OH Meg Henican. The `03 team — which had Henican and Jessica Kinder as the primary receivers — smashed the Irish record for fewest service aces allowed per game (0.94, record was 1.11 in `96). A year ago, Henican and current sophomore OPP Adrianna Stasiuk led Notre Dame to its second-best season in that area, surrendering just 0.96 aces per game. The Irish allowed just a single ace in three games in the `05 opener.

* The Irish will face 10 teams that earned bids to last year’s NCAA tournament in 2005, including five that are in the top 15 of the preseason AVCA poll: Texas (11th, NCAA round of 16), USC (7th, semifinals), Florida (8th, second round), Louisville (14th, round of 16), and Tennessee (9th, round of 16).

* Notre Dame has five seniors on its roster in 2005: MB Lauren Brewster, S Kelly Burrell, MB Carolyn Cooper, L/OH Meg Henican, and OH/MB Lauren Kelbley. The last Irish volleyball team to feature five seniors was the 2000 squad, which boasted S Denise Boylan, OH Christi Girton, S/DS Michelle Graham, MB/OPP Jo Jameyson, and OH Adrienne Shimmel. That team went 26-7 and finished ranked 21st after losing in five games at Ohio State in the round of 32 of the NCAA tournament. This is just the third time in the 26-year history of the varsity program that a team has featured five or more seniors (also in 1992).

* The 2005 Irish came into the season as one of the most-experienced groups in program history, as Notre Dame returned nine of its top 10 players from last year. All nine Irish returnees had been starters in the past, combining for 284 career starts (31.6) per person (which does not includes starts as the libero). Seniors MB Lauren Brewster and OH/MB Lauren Kelbley are in their fourth years as starters, while classmate L/OH Meg Henican is a third-year starter.

* Notre Dame is one of just 10 teams (Texas is another) that have been part of the regular-season slate of CSTV Sunday Night Spikes in all three seasons of its existence. The Irish beat Miami 3-0 at home in 2003 and lost in four games at South Carolina last year in previous CSTV matches.

* This is the 11th staging of the Shamrock Invitational, and Notre Dame holds a 25-4 (.862) all-time mark in the tournament, having been the champions seven times, including in each of the last four events. There was no Shamrock Invitational in 2004, but current senior MB Lauren Brewster was the MVP of the `03 edition. Texas and Arizona State are playing in the Shamrock for the first time.

* ND and Texas will meet for the 10th time, with the Longhorns holding a 7-2 edge in the all-time series. The Irish took the most-recent match, winning 30-20, 36-34, 30-24 in the 2003 Longhorn Classic final in Austin. Current senior MB/OH Lauren Kelbley was named the MVP of that tournament (8 kills, 412, 6 blocks vs. Texas), while her classmate, Lauren Brewster, had 11 kills on .318 hitting in the match.

* Senior OPP/MB Carolyn Cooper (Houston, Texas/Lutheran South Academy) is the ninth Texas native to play volleyball for the Irish.

* Texas sophomore MB Leticia Armstrong is a native of Elkhart, Ind., who played at Elkhart Central High School.

* UT assistant coach Brian Hosfeld is married to Jaimie Lee, who was a standout for Notre Dame (BIG EAST Player of the Year in 1996 and `97) before her current endeavors on the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) tour.

* The Irish and Sun Devils will play for the first time since 1993 and the fourth time overall. ASU has won all three previous contests.

* Notre Dame head coach Debbie Brown graduated from Arizona State in 1982, served as an assistant from 1980-82 and then as head coach from 1983-88.

* Irish senior S Kelly Burrell is the third Arizona native to play for Notre Dame.

* ASU senior OH Sarah Watkins is a native of Mishawaka, Ind., and played at Mishawaka High School.

* Notre Dame director of athletics Kevin White held the same position at ASU prior to taking his current post in 2000.

* Notre Dame won its season opener for the 15th consecutive year and its home opener for the 16th straight season. The Irish had started 2-0 nine consecutive seasons from 1994-2002 before beginning 1-1 in each of the last two campaigns.

* The Irish had nine service aces and only seven errors in their season-opening win. ND allowed just a single service ace vs. Michigan.

* Senior co-captain L/OH Meg Henican has played in each of the last 242 Notre Dame games, the longest streak ever for an Irish player. The last time she sat out was Nov. 15, 2002, when she appeared in only two of five games at Miami.

* Senior co-captain L/OH Meg Henican has had 10+ digs in each of the last 29 matches, as well as 39 of the last 40 and 61 of the last 66. She had 22 on Saturday, marking the eighth time in the last 10 matches that she has had 20 or more. Henican has been tops on ND in digs in 11 straight matches.

* Senior co-captain MB Lauren Brewster has played in all 93 matches since she became a member of the Irish in 2002, starting 89 of them.

* Sophomore OPP Adrianna Stasiuk started all 30 matches as a rookie in 2004, but missed the `05 opener due to an offseason rib injury.

* Each of the last 35 matches involving Notre Dame have been won by the team posting the higher hitting percentage. The last time that did not happen was Nov. 16, 2003, when the Irish outhit Pittsburgh .215-.170, but fell in five games. The last time ND won when being outhit was Sept. 13, 2003, when it prevailed in five games over Utah in the Shamrock Invitational despite getting outhit .220-.138.

* Though it rarely happens — the Irish have been outblocked just eight times in 61 matches over the last two seasons — Notre Dame has trouble winning when it gets outblocked. Notre Dame has lost nine straight when being outblocked, dating back to a win against Connecticut in the semifinals of the 2002 BIG EAST tournament despite a 10-9 block disadvantage.

* A dig advantage has often translated into victory in recent years for the Irish, as Notre Dame has won 31 of its last 32 matches (dating back to 11/17/02) when finishing with more digs than the opponent. The lone exception was a five-game loss to Northern Iowa last season despite holding an 83-81 dig edge.

* The Irish have won 42 consecutive matches when taking a 2-0 lead, with the last loss coming on Sept. 18, 2002 against Purdue.

* Notre Dame was 6-0 in neutral-site matches in 2004, posting victories against Fresno State, Sacramento State, Michigan State, Boston College, UC Irvine, and Valparaiso. The last Irish loss on a neutral court came vs. Louisville in the opening round of the 2003 NCAA tournament in Urbana, Ill.

* Notre Dame ranked 17th in Division I in volleyball attendance in 2004, averaging 1,513 per match. It was the third consecutive top-25 finish for the Irish (25th in `02, 16th in `03), as well as the second-highest season average ever (1,543 in `03).

* Saturday’s match was played in front of a crowd of 1,574, which was the largest crowd for a home opener in program history. It also was the eight-largest attendance overall for a Notre Dame home match.

* Senior co-captain OH/L Meg Henican, a native of New Orleans, has been the center of media attention this week due to Hurricane Katrina hitting the gulf coast. All of her family was safely evacuated from the area, including her parents, Marge and Joe, who had planned all along to be in South Bend this week.

* The Notre Dame volleyball team posted its highest grade-point average on record for an academic year in 2004-05, a mark of 3.362. The Irish received a Game Plan/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award and were one of just four teams (along with Kansas State, Ohio, and Wichita State) to be honored with that and reach the round of 32 in the NCAA tournament.

The Irish in Brief …

SEASON OUTLOOK: See the 2005 season outlook story near the end of this packet for a detailed look at this year’s Irish.

SNAPSHOT OF THE IRISH: Notre Dame’s women’s volleyball program, now in its 26th varsity season, has experienced a wealth of success since the arrival of head coach Debbie Brown in 1991. Now in her 15th season, Brown has guided Notre Dame to a winning record every year (and 20+ wins in each year but one), compiling a 344-117 (.746) mark. The Irish have earned 13 consecutive berths to the NCAA Championship, including a `93 quarterfinal finish and three trips to the round of 16 (1994, `95, and `97). Since joining the BIG EAST Conference in `95, Notre Dame has dominated the league, winning nine regular-season and eight tournament titles in 10 years. Overall, the Irish are 107-6 (.947) in regular-season BIG EAST play and 19-2 (.905) in conference tournament action. Notre Dame is 60-1 (.984) in BIG EAST regular-season matches in the Joyce Center. The 2005 Irish team returned nine of its top 10 players from last year’s squad that was 21-9, won both the regular-season and tournament titles in the BIG EAST and reached the round of 32 in the NCAA tournament. The Irish also were among the top five blocking teams in Division I for the fourth straight year (4th, 3.37 after being 1st in `03), and they return eight of their top nine blockers from that group. This year’s squad is one of the most-veteran groups in program history, featuring five seniors. Plus, all nine returnees had been a starter at some point in the past.

Up front, Notre Dame is led by a potent pair of senior fourth-year starters named Lauren: MB Lauren Brewster and MB/OH Lauren Kelbley (KELL-blee). Brewster, the 2003 NCAA blocking champ, became the second All-American in program history in 2004, earning third-team accolades from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). The 2005 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year after being a first-team all-conference pick twice and the `04 MVP of the league tournament, she has led the conference in blocking in each of the last three years and ranks second in Irish history in career hitting percentage and block average. Kelbley is the only Division I hitter to have been an all-region selection by the AVCA in each of the last three years. She was honorable mention All-America in both 2003 and `04 and is the only player to rank among the top five in Irish history in career hitting percentage and career kill average. Kelbley began her collegiate career at middle blocker before moving to outside hitter late in 2003 and then leading Notre Dame in kills from that position a year ago. She returned to the middle for the first match of `05.

Senior co-captain OH/L Meg Henican (HENN-ih-kin) is back for her third year in the starting lineup. She has played mostly libero over the past two campaigns, but has also seen time at outside hitter (where she played in the 2005 opener). Henican turned in the top digging campaign ever by an Irish competitor in 2004, breaking the ND records for digs in a season (553) and season dig average (4.94), plus the marks for digs in any-length match (37 in four games vs. Seton Hall on 10/10/04) and digs in an NCAA-tournament match (27 vs. Valparaiso in the first round).

Two other Irish hitters — senior OPP/MB Carolyn Cooper and sophomore OPP/OH Adrianna Stasiuk (stuh-SHEWK) — are back for their second seasons as starters. The veteran stepped into the lineup at middle blocker a month into the `04 campaign and has seen Notre Dame post an 18-2 record with her as a starter through her career. She started the `05 opener at opposite. Stasiuk started every match in her rookie season at opposite and was tabbed the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week twice and led the team in service aces (41), becoming just the second ND freshman to hit the 40-ace mark. She missed Saturday’s match after suffering an offseason rib injury.

The graduation of four-year starter Emily Loomis — who played all across the front row and finished her career fifth in kills (1,321) — opened up one starting spot in the lineup, which was filled in the opener by sophomore OH Ellen Heintzman (HIGHNTZ-min). She started eight matches at that position in 2004 and was a spot contributor off the bench, as well.

Back in the starting setting role again this season is sophomore Ashley Tarutis (tuh-ROO-diss), who took over as the team’s top setter in the third match of 2004 and helped the Irish lead the BIG EAST in hitting percentage in league matches (.254). She opened the’05 campaign by playing the entire match (for just the second time in her career), setting ND to a .271 hitting mark and registering 40 assists and 12 digs. Senior S Kelly Burrell (burr-ELLE) is the backup setter. She began `04 as the team’s starter and continued to play in two rotations for most of last season.

When Henican is not in the libero jersey (which is green this season for the first time after being blue for two years and gold in `04), it will likely be filled by junior L/DS Danielle Herndon. She has been a regular throughout her career at both that spot and defensive specialist.

A pair of Irish rookies also saw action in the opening match. DS/S Madison Clark was a back-row sub for Notre Dame throughout the match, while OH Mallorie Croal (krole) made her debut in the third game.

HEAD COACH Debbie Brown: Irish head coach Debbie Brown is in her 15th season at the helm of the Notre Dame program. She has led the Irish to a 345-118 (.745) mark, while holding a 462-201 (.697) overall record. Brown’s Notre Dame teams have earned 13 consecutive NCAA tournament berths, advancing to the quarterfinals in 1993 and the round of 16 in `94, `95, and `97. Her squads have won 20 or more matches 12 times. A nine-time conference coach of the year and the only four-time BIG EAST coach of the year (in addition to four honors in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference and one in the Pac-10), she has coached eight Irish players to All-America honors, while 35 have gained all-BIG EAST mention since 1995. The Irish also have claimed 13 regular-season conference titles (4 Midwestern Collegiate, 9 BIG EAST) and 12 league tournament crowns (4 MCC, 8 BIG EAST). A co-captain of the 1980 U.S. Olympic volleyball team after winning a pair of national championships and earning All-America honors twice while playing at USC, Brown graduated from Arizona State in 1982 and coached her alma mater from 1983-88, helping the Sun Devils to five NCAA tournaments.

ND LISTED 27TH IN PRESEASON AVCA POLL: Notre Dame, which returned nine of its top 10 players from the 2004 squad that was 21-9, came in listed 27th in the preseason edition of the USA Today/CSTV Coaches Top 25, published by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). The Irish had 118 points and are the second team receiving votes outside of the top 25. Pepperdine is 25th with 177 points, while Kansas State had 123. The Irish were last ranked in the 2004 preseason poll (25th), but were receiving votes at various other times last year, ending up listed 33rd. Five teams on the 2005 Irish schedule — USC (7th), Florida (8th), Tennessee (9th), Texas (11th), and Louisville (14th) — were among the top 25, while Rice was receiving votes and listed 41st.

IRISH CHOSEN TO FINISH SECOND IN BIG EAST: Notre Dame, the defending regular-season and tournament champions, was picked to finish second in the BIG EAST Conference behind new arrival Louisville, which was 30-3 and ranked 16th nationally last season after reaching the NCAA round of 16. It is the first time in 11 seasons of conference emembership that the Irish — who have won nine regular-season and eight tournament titles in 10 years — are not the preseason favorites to win the league. Pittsburgh was chosen third, followed by two more newcomers, Cincinnati and Marquette. ND will welcome Louisville on Oct. 29 for a 2 p.m. (EST/CDT) showdown in the Joyce Center.

BREWSTER TABBED BIG EAST PRESEASON POY; KELBLEY ON ALL-LEAGUE TEAM: Senior middle blocker Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.), a third-team All-American and the conference-tournament MVP in 2004, was tabbed the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year and is joined by fellow senior OH/MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) on the preseason all-BIG EAST team in voting by the league’s head coaches. Brewster is the fourth Notre Dame student-athlete – but first since 2001 – to be named the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year in the eight years since the award debuted in 1998. Other Irish competitors to enter the season with that distinction were setter Denise Boylan in both `98 and 2000 and OPP Kristy Kreher in 2001. Only two of the previous seven preseason players of the year have gone on to also be the postseason picks of the coaches as the BIG EAST’s best player in the same season: Boylan in 2000 and Pittsburgh’s now-graduated Megan Miller a season ago. Notre Dame has placed multiple players on the preseason all-BIG EAST teams in each of its eight years of existence.

Notes On This Week’s Matches …

TEXAS IN BRIEF: The Longhorns will open their season in The Inn at Saint Mary’s Shamrock Invitational … last weekend, Texas beat UT-San Antonio in three games (30-21, 30-16, 30-9) in an exhibition match and had an intrasquad exhibition … the Longhorns are ranked 11th in the AVCA preseason national poll … UT returns eight letterwinners and four starters from last year’s squad that was 26-5 and finished second in the Big 12 Conference (16-4 record) behind Nebraska … Texas earned an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament and beat Texas State (3-0) and Michigan (3-1) before falling in the round of 16 to eventual NCAA champion Stanford (3-0) … the Longhorns finished the season ranked 11th … gone from that team are two All-Americans: OH Mira Topic (1st team in `04; 3rd team in `02; `04 Big 12 Player of the Year; 15 kills on .321 hitting vs. ND in `03) and MB/OH Bethany Howden (2nd team AA; first team all-Big 12; 14 kills and 10 digs vs. ND in `03) … returning starters are juniors OH Dariam Acevedo (Big 12 Newcomer of the Year) and MB Brandy Magee (honorable mention all-Big 12) and sophomroes S Michelle Moriarty (AVCA all-region, honorable mention all-Big 12) and L Alyson Jennings … top newcomers include OH/RS Lauren Paolini (#7 among incoming frosh by prepvolleyball.com, Volleyball magazine Fab 50, Michigan Gatorade state player of the year) and MB/RS RuthAnn Feist (Volleyball magazine Fab 50) … Jerritt Elliott is in his fifth season coaching Texas, having compiled an 81-42 (.659) record there and a 131-53 (.712) overall mark in six previous seasons as a head coach … next up for the Longhorns is the Ole Miss Magnolia Tournament next weekend in Oxford, Miss., in which UT will face Lipscomb and the host on Friday and Lamar and North Carolina State on Saturday.

ND-UT SERIES NOTES: The Irish and Longhorns will meet for the second time in three seasons and the 10th time overall … Texas holds a 7-2 advantage in the series, but ND won the most-recent meeting, 30-20, 36-34, 30-24 in the 2003 Longhorn Classic final in Austin … this will be UT’s third all-time trip to the Joyce Center, but the first since 1995 … the Longhorns are unbeaten at ND, winning 3-0 in 1989 and 3-1 in ’95 … this will be the 10th time in as many matches that at least one team is nationally-ranked at the time of the match … ND was ranked higher in four of the last five meetings … UT is 5-0 when ranked higher, while the teams have split the four meetings with the Irish listed higher … Texas holds a 22-11 advantage in games won … the Longhorns won the only five-game affair, staving off an upset bid in their own Whataburger Invitational in 1988 by winning the final game 15-7 (UT was ranked sixth; ND unranked) … the schools first met in 1987 in Austin, when #10 UT prevailed in three games … after four straight defeats (winning just two total games), #12 ND beat #15 Texas for the first time in 1994 in Austin in four games … ND and UT played four times from 1987-90 and on four more occasions from 1994-97 before a six-year hiatus … the ’94 match saw ND’s Angie Harris serve up eight aces, which is the most-ever for an Irish player in a four-game match and second-highest sum in any-length contest … a 3-1 UT win in `95 still stands as the longest match in Joyce Center history (2:45) and the second-longest in any location the Irish have ever participated in … Debbie Brown holds a 17-14 career record against current Big 12 Conference schools, including a 12-12 mark coaching ND … nine Texas natives (fourth-most of any state) have played volleyball for the Irish, including current senior Carolyn Cooper (Houston, Lutheran South Academy, Houston Juniors) … UT sophomore MB Leticia Armstrong is a native of Elkhart who played at Elkhart Central High School … Texas assistant coach Brian Hosfeld is married to former Irish standout Jaimie Lee, who was the 1996 and `97 BIG EAST Player of the Year and is currently playing on the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) tour, having been its rookie of the year in 2003 … Hosfeld and Irish assistant coach Louella Lovely were both coaches at the 2005 USA Volleyball Junior A2 Team Camp, which concentrates on developing players who are not on a U.S. national team, but could be in the future … among the players that Lovely coached in that camp were a pair of Longhorns, sophomore S Michelle Moriarty and OH/RS Lauren Paolini.

THE LAST ND-UT MATCH: Notre Dame (4-1), ranked 21st, claimed the championship of the Longhorn Classic with a victory over host Texas (2-3) in straight games (30-20, 36-34, 30-24) on Sept. 6, 2003. Irish junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis and sophomore MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) were both named to the all-tournament team, with Kelbley also earning the tournament’s MVP award.

Loomis led all hitters in the match with 15 kills, while making just two errors for a .394 attack percentage. Kelbley had eight kills on 17 attempts, while making just one error, for a .412 hitting percentage. Senior OPP Katie Neff and sophomore MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwoo H.S.) delivered 10 kills each.

Defensively, Notre Dame registered 13 blocks, with Brewster and Kelbley each in on six of those, while Loomis and Neff took part in five each. Sophomore S Kelly Burrell (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier Preparatory School) paced the floor game with a career-high 11 digs, while senior OH Jessica Kinder added 10.

The Irish started out playing well, jumping out to a 13-5 lead and never looking back in the first game on the way to a 10-point victory. Loomis led the way with five kills and no errors on seven attack attempts, while Brewster also had five kills. Burrell and senior S Kristen Kinder led the offense to a .385 hitting mark in the opening frame.

Game two was much tighter, with the teams trading points throughout it, finding themselves tied on 24 different occasions. No team held more than a three-point advantage throughout the game. After saving four game points, the Irish finally converted on their third try at ending the game, with Loomis and sophomore OH Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.) slamming kills to break a 34-34 tie.

The Irish jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the final game and continued on to clinch their first straight-game victory in 11 matches.

Leading the Longhorns were juniors OH Mira Topic, who had 15 kills on .321 hitting to go with nine digs, and MB Bethany Howden, who finished with 14 kills and 10 digs. Kathryn Wilson had six kills on .462 hitting to go with eight digs, while Erin Larson led UT in digs with 12.

See match boxscore near the end of this packet.

ND-UT MATCH-BY-MATCH: See pdf for the match scores of all nine previous contests between the Irish and Longhorns. Texas leads the series 7-2, including 2-0 at Notre Dame, but the Irish prevailed in the most-recent match.

CURRENT IRISH vs. TEXAS: See pdf for statistics of current Irish players in career matches against Texas.

ARIZONA STATE IN BRIEF: The Sun Devils (1-2) opened their season last weekend in the Fremont Invitational in Northridge, Calif., losing 3-0 to #23 Saint Mary’s, beating Cal State-Northridge in five games (15-9 in the fifth), and falling in three games to UNLV … top statistical performers through three matches are junior OH Nicole Morton (3.55 kills, 3.64 digs, 3.86 points), sophomore MB Colette Meek (.447 hitting), senior S Giovana Melo (9.50 assists), sophomore L/DS Sydney Donohue (5.27 digs, 24 vs. CS-Northridge), and sophomore MB Staci Smith (1.25 blocks) … ASU returned 12 of 13 letterwinners and all seven starters from last year’s squad that was 10-17 and finished tied for seventh in the Pacific-10 Conference (5-13 record) … returning starters were senior OH Sarah Watkins, juniors MB Tierra Burnley, Morton, and OH Nina Reeves, and sophomores Meek (Pac-10 all-freshman team), S Rachel Mittelstaedt (Pac-10 all-freshman team), and Smith … top newcomer is OH Margie Giordano (Arizona state player of the year) … Brad Saindon is in his third season coaching Arizona State, having compiled a 20-37 (.351) record there and a 264-177 (.599) overall mark in 14+ seasons as a head coach … next up for ASU is a return home for next weekend’s Sun Devil Wyndham Buttes Volleyball Classic, in which it will face Texas State on Friday and both Northern Arizona and Auburn on Saturday.

ND-ASU SERIES NOTES: The Irish and Sun Devils will meet for the first time since 1993 and fourth time overall … ASU has won each of the previous matches, taking all but one game … this will be just the second trip to the Joyce Center for the Sun Devils and the first since 1985, when #11 Arizona State – coached then by current Irish mentor Debbie Brown – prevailed in three games … ASU was ranked in the top 20 at the time of each of the previous contests … the Sun Devils have won nine of the 10 games between the schools … ND and ASU first met in 1983 at a Thanksgiving tournament in Baton Rouge, La., with the #13 Sun Devils prevailing in three games in Brown’s first season as a head coach … the most-recent match saw the Irish earn their first-ever game victory against ASU (15-9 in the third), but the Sun Devils still prevailed in four games, in Tempe in 1993 … following two years as an All-American at USC and a stint with the U.S. Olympic team, Brown completed her education at Arizona State, graduating in 1982 with a degree in physical education … she then began her coaching career as an assistant at ASU under Dale Flickinger from 1980-82 before assuming the head-coaching duties in 1983 … in six years leading the Sun Devils, Brown compiled a 117-83 record, while gaining five invitations to the NCAAs, finishing in the top 20 on four occasions, and being named Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 1986 … other than the BIG EAST, Brown has more career victories against the Pac-10 (39) than vs. teams from any other conference … current ND senior setter Kelly Burrell (Phoenix, Xavier College Prep, Arizona Jrs.) is the third Arizona native to play volleyball for the Irish … Burrell and ASU sophomore setter Rachel Mittelstaedt played together at Xavier College Prep School in Phoenix … Arizona State senior OH Sarah Watkins is a native of Mishawaka who played at Mishawaka High School … ND assistant coach Robin Davis is a 1979 graduate of Northern Arizona University, where he also was an assistant in both 1999 and 2000 … Notre Dame director of athletics Kevin White held that same position at ASU prior to taking his current post in 2000.

THE LAST ND-ASU MATCH: Christine Garner had 28 kills on .345 hitting to go with 21 digs to lead #17 Arizona State (14-4) to a 15-10, 15-2, 9-15, 15-10 victory over 12th-ranked Notre Dame on Oct. 25, 1993, at the University Activity Center in Tempe. Tiffannie Johnson had 48 assists in leading the Sun Devils offense to a .273 attack percentage, while six ASU players registered 10+ digs en route to holding Notre Dame to .182 hitting with 106 digs. Johnson and Kathy Culbreath had 18 digs apiece, while Nancy Christian added 17 (plus nine kills on .310 hitting). In all, four Sun Devils registered double-doubles, with Leanne Schuster finishing with 11 kills and 15 digs (plus nine assists) and Culbreath notching 12 kills and 18 digs. Notre Dame was led offensively by Nicole Coates and Molly Stark, who had 14 kills apiece, while Christy Peters accounted for 13. Peters also led all players with 31 of Notre Dame’s 112 digs, while Coates added 22. Jenny Birkner had 15 digs, and Stark also had a double-double with 14 digs. Janelle Karlan made it eight players in the match with double-doubles, registering 52 assists and 12 digs.

ND-ASU MATCH-BY-MATCH: See pdf for the match scores of all three previous contests between the Irish and Sun Devils. ASU has won each match, including the first two with current Irish mentor Debbie Brown as Arizona State’s head coach.

SHAMROCK INVITATIONAL HISTORY: This will be the 11th staging of the Shamrock Invitational, the first with The Inn at Saint Mary’s as the tournament’s sponsor. The event began in 1993 and has been held in September in the Joyce Center every season since then except for 1995 and 2004. Notre Dame holds a 25-4 (.862) all-time mark in the Shamrock Invitational and has been crowned the champion on seven occasions, including in each of the last four tournaments. With new visitors Texas and Arizona State, a total of 24 different teams have taken part in the Shamrock Invitational, with only two (Louisville and South Carolina) participating more than one time. UT will be the second-highest-ranked team to take part in the tournament (Pacific was #6 in 1999), as well as the sixth nationally-ranked squad to participate. This will be just the third time that Notre Dame is not ranked heading into the Shamrock Invitational (also in 1999 and 2000). In the most-recent event, the Irish beat Indiana and Utah to clinch the `03 title before falling to South Carolina (3-1). Current senior MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) was named the MVP of that event. The only other ND losses in the tournament came in 1997 to #18 Wisconsin (3-1), in `98 to #12 Colorado (3-0), and in `99 to #6 Pacific (3-0). See pdf for a detailed history of the Shamrock Invitational.

ND ON SUNDAY NIGHT SPIKES FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR: Notre Dame’s match on Saturday vs. Texas will be televised by College Sports Television as part of its Sunday Night Spikes national-match-of-the-week series. It will be the third consecutive season the Irish are featured, having beaten Miami in three games at home in 2003 and dropped a four-game contest to South Carolina in the final of the 2004 Gamecock Invitational. Notre Dame is one of just 10 schools that has been on the regular-season slate of CSTV’s match-of-the-week series in all three years since it debuted. The others are Colorado State, Florida, Hawai’i, Nebraska, Pepperdine, Santa Clara, Stanford, Texas, and Utah.

Notre Dame Team Notes …

IRISH vs. RANKED TEAMS: Texas, ranked 11th, will be the highest-ranked team to face Notre Dame since #2 Nebraska topped the Irish twice in as many days last season (3-0 on Sept. 3 and 3-2 on Sept. 4) in the Joyce Center. That also was the last time that a nationally-ranked team visited Notre Dame. Since the current Irish seniors arrived on campus in 2002, Notre Dame has played 11 matches against nationally-ranked squads, posting victories against #10 Pepperdine (3-2) in 2002, #10 Arizona (3-1) in `03, and #14 Utah (3-0) in `04.

START ME UP: A three-game sweep of Michigan on Saturday gave Notre Dame a victory in its season opener for the 15th consecutive season, every year since head coach Debbie Brown arrived on campus. The last time the Irish opened 0-1 was 1990, when they lost in four games to Montana in the Washington State Invitational. After starting 1-1 in both of the last two years, this year’s Notre Dame team is looking to return to the form that saw the Irish begin 2-0 for nine consecutive seasons from 1994-2002. The Irish also were 3-0 three straight years from 2000-02. Notre Dame won its home opener for the 16th consecutive year, having last lost its first match in the Joyce Center in 1989, when Western Michigan gained a five-game triumph in the Notre Dame Invitational.

NOTRE DAME TOPS IN BIG EAST IN BLOCKING AND DIGGING, TIED IN ACES: After the opening weekend of the season, Notre Dame found itself atop the BIG EAST Conference leaders in both blocks per game (3.33) and digs per game (20.33). The former spot is a familiar one for the Irish, who have won the league team blocking title in each of the last four years (and six of the last seven). Not only has Notre Dame never led the BIG EAST in digs per game, its top finish among conference schools is fifth, which came in 2003. Following the opening weekend, the Irish held a hefty advantage in that category, with Villanova and West Virginia tied for second at 17.00. Notre Dame also was tied with St. John’s for the top spot in service aces, at 3.00 per game.

SERVE IT UP: Notre Dame served extremely well in its season-opening sweep of Michigan last weekend, registering nine service aces, while making only seven errors. Leading that contingent were senior OH/MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) and sophomore OH Ellen Heintzman (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy), who had three aces apiece; Heintzman’s all came on consecutive swings in the opening game, and she did not make a serving error in the match. Senior MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) had a pair of aces, while sophomore S Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos H.S.) notched one. The Irish had more aces than service errors on just nine occasions in 30 matches a year ago, and it marked the most aces in a match for the Irish since having 15 against South Carolina on Sept. 19, 2004.

WIDE RECEIVERS: Due largely to the efforts of senior OH/L Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.), junior L/DS Danielle Herndon (Plant City, Fla./Durant H.S.), and freshman DS/S Madison Clark (Sturgis, Mich./Sturgis H.S.), Notre Dame surrendered just a single service ace in the season-opening victory over Michigan. The Irish are coming off the two best serve-receiving seasons in program history, having surrendered a program-record 0.94 aces per game in 2003 before allowing 0.96 last year.

BIG CROWD ON OPENING DAY: A crowd of 1,574 took in Notre Dame’s three-game, season-opening sweep of Michigan on Saturday. It was the largest crowd for a home opener in program history, besting the prior mark of 1,083 in last year’s lidlifter vs. Loyola Chicago. The attendance was the eighth-highest total in program history for any match, as well as the fourth-largest crowd to take in a contest not staged prior to a football pep rally. After one weekend of action, the Irish ranked fourth in Division I in average attendance, behind Nebraska (10,576 per match), Illinois State (3,259), and Texas A&M (2,242).

BLOCK PARTY: The Irish appear poised to again be one of the top blocking teams in the nation in 2005. Notre Dame, which has led the BIG EAST Conference in each of the last four years and has been among the top five blocking teams in the NCAA in each of those seasons, returned eight of its top nine blockers from last year’s squad that averaged 3.37 per game, good enough for fourth nationally. After being fifth in 2001 (3.53) and second in ’02 (3.66), the Irish led Division I in team blocking in 2003 (3.72). Senior MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.), the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, has led the conference in blocking in both overall and league action in each of her three collegiate seasons. After setting Notre Dame freshman records in both total blocks (175) and block average (1.68) and coming in fourth nationally in 2002, she was the NCAA blocking champ in 2003 (1.78) and finished 21st last season (1.54). Through one weekend of play, the Irish are tops in the BIG EAST in blocking (3.33), while Brewster again paces the conference in individual action (2.00).

THE IRISH EXPERIENCE: Notre Dame has one of its most-experienced teams in 2005, as the Irish return nine of their top 10 players (in terms of games played) from last year’s squad. All nine of Notre Dame’s returnees have been starters in the past, heading into the year having combined for 284 career starts (31.6 per person). A pair of fourth-year starters – seniors MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) and OH/MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) – lead the Irish veterans, along with third-year starter L/OH Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.), as well as three other returning starters: senior MB/OPP Carolyn Cooper (Houston, Texas/Lutheran South Academy) and sophomores S Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos H.S.) and OPP Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South H.S.).

SENIOR CITIZENS: Notre Dame has five seniors on its roster in 2005: MB Lauren Brewster, S Kelly Burrell, MB Carolyn Cooper, L/OH Meg Henican, and OH/MB Lauren Kelbley. The last Irish volleyball team to feature five seniors was the 2000 squad, which boasted S Denise Boylan, OH Christi Girton, S/DS Michelle Graham, MB/OPP Jo Jameyson, and OH Adrienne Shimmel. That team went 26-7 and finished ranked 21st after losing in five games at Ohio State in the round of 32 of the NCAA tournament. This is just the third time in the 26-year history of the varsity program that a team has featured five or more seniors. The other squad was the `92 one, which had DS Andrea Armento, OH Marilyn Cragin, MB Jessica Fiebelkorn, MB Cynthia May, MB Majenica Rupe, OH Jen Slosar, and OH Alicia Turner. That team went 30-8 and finished 22nd, falling in the round of 32 of the NCAAs.

IRISH TO FACE FIVE TOP-15 TEAMS: Ten teams that earned bids to last year’s NCAA Championship, including five that are in the top 15 of the `05 AVCA preseason poll, highlight the 2005 schedule. The marquee matches include showdowns with Texas (11th in AVCA poll, NCAA round of 16), USC (7th, semifinals), Florida (8th, second round), Louisville (14th, round of 16), and Tennessee (9th, round of 16). Among the other highlights of the schedule are three high-level tournaments, four home matches on ND football weekend, as well as some notable trips. In all, the Irish will play matches in 10 states and 12 different cities and will make their first-ever visits to San Antonio and New Orleans. Notre Dame also will play in Chicago for the first time since 1996, Louisville for the first time since ’94, and Milwaukee for the first time since ’86.

Notre Dame Player Notes …

IRISH PLAYERS HOLD EARLY CONFERENCE LEADS IN FOUR OF SIX INDIVIDUAL CATEGORIES: Through the opening weekend of play, Notre Dame players are atop the BIG EAST Conference statistics in four of the six individual categories. Senior co-captain MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.), who led the league in blocking in each of the last three years, is first in that area again (2.00 per game, next-best is 1.60), as well as tops in kills (5.33), with her classmate, MB/OH Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.), right behind at 5.00 kills per game. Senior co-captain OH/L Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.) is far atop the dig leaders with her average of 7.33 per game (second place is 5.60), while sophomore S Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos H.S.) leads conference competitors in assists, with 13.33 per game (next-best is 12.11). Brewster, Kelbley, and Tarutis are all among the top 10 in three different categories. The co-captain also ranks fourth in hitting percentage (.412), while Kelbley is seventh in that category (.361), as well as tied with Irish sophomore OH Ellen Heintzman (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) tied for third in service aces (1.00). Tarutis checks in tied for fifth in blocks per game (1.00), plus ninth in digs (4.00). Senior OPP/MB Carolyn Cooper (Houston, Texas/Lutheran South Academy) is fourth in blocks (1.33), while junior L/DS Danielle Herndon (Plant City, Fla./Durant H.S.) is sixth in digs (4.33).

BREWSTER NAMED TO BIG EAST WEEKLY HONOR ROLL FOR STRONG MATCH vs. MICHIGAN: Senior MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.), the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, was one of five players tabbed to the weekly Honor Roll by the conference for their strong play over the opening weekend. The list — in its first year — recognizes players who did not win one of the BIG EAST’s weekly awards (player of the week and rookie of the week), but nonetheless performed admirably. Brewster had 16 kills on .412 hitting in the season opener against Michigan, while keying the Irish defensive effort with six blocks.

IRISH 18-2 WHEN COOPER STARTS: Notre Dame has posted a 18-2 record when current senior MB/OPP Carolyn Cooper (Houston, Texas/Lutheran South Academy) is in the starting lineup, 1-0 in 2003, 16-2 in `04, and 1-0 this season.

KELBLEY EFFICIENT AND DEADLY: Senior OH/MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) currently stands as the only Irish player to rank among the all-time top five in both career kill average (5th, 3.28) and hitting percentage (5th, .294).

HENICAN A DIGGING MACHINE: Senior co-captain L/OH Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.) heads into the Shamrock Invitational having registered 10+ digs in 29 consecutive matches, dating back to Sept. 3, 2004, when she managed just five in a three-game loss to #2 Nebraska. Henican, who broke the Irish record for digs in a season in `04, also has had double-digit digs in 39 of the last 40 matches and 61 of the last 66, as well as 64 times total in her career. Despite playing outside hitter instead of libero, she had 22 digs in the season opener vs. Michigan, marking the eighth time in the last 10 contests (dating back to last year) that she has hit the 20-dig plateau. Henican also has led Notre Dame in digs in 11 consecutive matches. The last time another player was tops on the team in the category was Nov. 5, 2004, when current sophomore OPP Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South H.S.) had 18 digs vs. Connecticut, and Henican checked in with 17. Henican has led the team in 28 of 31 matches over the last two seasons.

HENICAN ON PACE TO BREAK ND CAREER DIG AVERAGE RECORD: Senior co-captain L/OH Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.) heads into this weekend averaging 3.85 digs per game throughout her career, which is on pace to break the Notre Dame record of 3.72 by Christy Peters (1991-94). She also needs 463 digs to reach Peters’ record for career digs (1,640).

HENICAN AND THE HURRICANE: Senior co-captain L/OH Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.), a native of New Orleans, has been the center of some media attention this week, as Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast of the United States. Henican has been on campus since early August, while her parents — Marge and Joe — made the trip north for last weekend’s season-opening match against Michigan and had previously planned to stay in South Bend this week and for The Inn at Saint Mary’s Shamrock Invitational. Henican’s older brother Joe evacuated from New Orleans to Houston, while her older sister Colleen traveled north to Tennessee in order to avoid the storm.

IRON WOMAN I: Senior co-captain L/OH Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.) enters the Shamrock Invitational having played in each of the last 242 Irish games, the longest streak ever by a Notre Dame volleyball player. She played in just two of five games against Miami on Nov. 15, 2002, but then finished out that campaign and then appeared in every game in both 2003 and `04 and all three in last weekend’s season opener. She is the only Irish player ever to play in every game in consecutive seasons.

IRON WOMAN II: Senior co-captain MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) has played in all 93 Notre Dame matches since joining the team in 2002, starting 90 of them. She has a chance to be the third Irish player ever to play in every match during her career, following in the footsteps of Janelle Karlan (1990-93, 145 matches) and Jenny Birkner (1993-96, 140 matches).

HENICAN, STASIUK ANCHOR STELLAR SERVE-RECEIVING UNIT: Notre Dame’s 2004 serve-receiving unit, which was anchored by then-junior captain L Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.) and freshman OPP Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South H.S.), proved to be one of the best in Irish history. Opponents averaged just 0.96 service aces per game in 2004, the second-best mark in Irish history, behind the 0.94 mark in `03, which also was led by Henican. Stasiuk made just 45 receiving errors this season, or one in every 2.49 games. Henican was even more solid, committing only 37 reception errors, an average of one in every 3.03 games. Only six times in 30 matches did Henican make multiple reception errors. In the 2005 season opener, the Irish allowed just a single service ace in three games.

BREWSTER SECOND ALL-AMERICAN IN ND HISTORY: Senior MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) was tabbed a third-team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) in 2004 to become the second Notre Dame All-American and the first to earn honors from the AVCA. OH Christy Peters was picked a third-team All-American by Volleyball magazine in both 1993 and `94. On eight other occasions, Irish players have been honorable mention All-America, including Brewster in `03 and current senior OH/MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) in both `03 and `04. Brewster also is the first Tennessee native from any four-year college ever to be an AVCA All-American.

HENICAN REWRITES DIG RECORDS: During the 2004 season, current senior co-captain L/OH Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.) make quite an impact on the Irish digging records. She broke the Notre Dame marks for digs in a season (553) and season dig average (4.94), while combining with current sophomore OPP Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South H.S.) for 884 digs, the most-ever by teammates in a campaign. Henican also set Irish records for digs in any-length match (37 in four games vs. Seton Hall on Oct. 10, 2004) and digs in an NCAA tournament contest (27 vs. Valparaiso in the first round).

DYNAMIC DIGGING COMBO: Senior co-captain L/OH Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.) and sophomore OPP Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South H.S.) combined for 884 digs (553 by Henican, 331 by Stasiuk) in 2004, marking the highest single-season sum ever by Notre Dame teammates. The previous mark, bested by just one, was 883 by Jessica Fiebelkorn (474) and Christy Peters (409) in 1992.

HENICAN, BREWSTER TABBED CO-CAPTAINS: Seniors MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) and OH/L Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.) will serve as Notre Dame’s co-captains this season. Henican is back for her second season in the role, after serving as the lone captain during the 2004 campaign. She is the 10th multiple-year captain in program history and just the fourth to have been a solo captain in at least one of those seasons.

LOCAL INTEREST: Freshman DS/S Madison Clark (Sturgis H.S.) hails from Sturgis, Mich., which is just across the state line and less than 50 miles east of Notre Dame. She is the most-local player for the Irish volleyball team since South Bend native Dyan Boulac wound up her career in 1993.

TOGETHER AGAIN: Sophomore S Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos H.S.) and freshman OH Mallorie Croal (Villa Park, Calif./Mater Dei H.S.) are teammates once again with the Irish this season. Both played for the Golden West Volleyball Club prior to coming to Notre Dame,helping it to the bronze medal at the 2004 Junior National Olympics.

Miscellaneous Notes …

HOME, SWEET HOME: Notre Dame’s Joyce Center has become one of the most difficult places in the nation for road teams to win, especially since the arrival of head coach Debbie Brown in 1991. Over the last 14 years, Notre Dame has posted a 166-28 (.856) home record. The Irish have pieced together a variety of impressive winning streaks on their home floor, winning 14 or more in a row on five occasions, highlighted by streaks of 27 (1993-95) and 36 (2000-02) straight home victories. Notre Dame also won 74 in a row in regular-season action against conference opposition from 1991-2004. The Irish, who have topped 13 ranked teams – including four top-10 squads – at home, also hold a 158-9 (.946) record against unranked teams in the Joyce Center, including a 52-match winning streak.

CLASS OF THE CONFERENCE: Notre Dame has experienced unprecedented success in the decade since joining the BIG EAST Conference in 1995. The Irish have compiled a 98-5 (.951) regular-season mark, highlighted by nine titles and winning streaks of 45 and 35 consecutive matches. Notre Dame is 60-1 (.984) in BIG EAST regular-season contests in the Joyce Center, and the Irish have won eight BIG EAST tournament championships, posting a 19-2 mark and reaching the final every year. Notre Dame also has dominated the conference awards, winning player-of-the-year honors six times, the coach-of-the-year award on four occasions, and the league tournament’s most-outstanding-player award seven times. Also, Notre Dame student-athletes have garnered 35 all-conference accolades, including 21 first-team honors, which account for more than one-third of the first-team selections during the span. After being the preseason favorite 10 years in a row, the Irish were picked by the league head coaches to finish second to newcomer Louisville in 2005. Senior MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) was chosen as the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, and she was joined on the preseason all-BIG EAST team by senior OH/MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.), a unanimous selection.

IRISH HAVE FOUR MATCHES ON HOME FOOTBALL WEEKENDS: Notre Dame football fans will have four chances to also take in Irish volleyball while they are on campus for home games this season. For the fifth time in six years, there will be a match immediately preceding a football pep rally, as the Oct. 21 contest with South Florida (4 p.m. EST/CDT) will be before the pep rally for the Brigham Young game. Football-weekend visitors will have three other chances to see the Irish, all against BIG EAST competition. The day after the BYU football game (Sunday, Oct. 23) Notre Dame will play host to Georgetown at 2 p.m. (EST/CDT), while the Navy football weekend (Nov. 12) will also see the Irish in action twice: Saturday at 10 a.m. (EDT) vs. Villanova and Sunday at 2 p.m. against Rutgers.

ACADEMIC ACHIEVERS: The Notre Dame women’s volleyball team posted its highest grade-point average on record for an academic year in 2004-05 and was rewarded as a recipient of a Game Plan/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award. The Irish, who had a team GPA of 3.362, were one of just four Division I squads to earn the Team Academic Award and also win at least one match in the 2004 NCAA Championship (also Kansas State, Ohio, and Wichita State). The AVCA Team Academic Award honors college and high-school teams that display excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale. Notre Dame was one of 45 Division I programs to be so recognized. The Irish previously copped the honor in 2001-02 and 2002-03.

TV STARS: Notre Dame will be featured on television at least two times during the 2005 season. The Irish will take on Texas on Sept. 3 in The Inn at Saint Mary’s Shamrock Invitational in the Joyce Center, which will be part of the AVCA’s national match-of-the-week package on College Sports Television (CSTV). Also part of that package will be the BIG EAST Championship title match on Nov. 20 in Louisville (ND has played in that match all 10 seasons since becoming a league member). Additionally, the Irish will play host to Tennessee on Nov. 26 in the Irish Thanksgiving Invitational, and that will be televised by Comcast Sports Net. A year ago, Notre Dame was on TV three times in road matches (CSTV at South Carolina, Comcast at Michigan, BYU TV at Brigham Young). The Irish — who played host to Miami in 2003 in a CSTV match — are one of just 10 schools who have been on the regular-season slate of CSTV’s match-of-the-week series in all three years since it debuted. The others are Colorado State, Florida, Hawai’i, Nebraska, Pepperdine, Santa Clara, Stanford, Texas, and Utah.

KEEPING UP WITH ND VOLLEYBALL: For the fastest results of Notre Dame volleyball matches, call the Notre Dame sports hotline at (574) 631-3000 and choose #5 and #1. The hotline provides schedules and result information for all Irish varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the match recaps and weekly releases provided on the official athletics website at www.und.com. The hotline is the first medium updated with results of each Notre Dame volleyball match. Once again, www.und.com will be the best place for in-depth coverage of Irish volleyball. Live scoring of all home matches, as well as live internet broadcasts of six contests supplement the regular match previews and recaps. In addition, media members and fans may be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting assistant sports information director Bo Rottenborn at Rottenborn.2@nd.edu. All requests for story ideas, interview access, match credentials, and further information on Irish volleyball should similarly be directed to Rottenborn. Credential and interview requests should be made at least 24 hours in advance.