Oct. 31, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame treated its fans to a 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-16, 27-25) BIG EAST Conference volleyball win over Connecticut Sunday afternoon at Purcell Pavilion by utilizing 12 players throughout the match and posting a comeback fourth-set victory. The Irish led by as many as five and even trailed by four in the final frame but sealed the deal with an ace from freshman Sammie Brown on match point.
Brown aced the Huskies (4-17 overall, 2-9 BIG EAST) five times to set a new career high, with Notre Dame (15-9, 8-3) totaling 11 points from behind the service stripe. Freshman Andrea McHugh had three aces while adding 17 kills, 14 digs and a career-best three solo blocks.
McHugh was one of three Irish players with double-digit kills, joining senior Kellie Sciacca (10) and junior Hilary Eppink (15) as recipients of the honor.
Eppink had four blocks with Sciacca adding three. Brown tacked on three block assists with three kills, seven digs and 45 assists to lead Notre Dame to a .234 hitting clip.
Connecticut hit .193 with 19 kills from Jordan Kirk and 13 more by Rebecca Murray. Murray led all players with 19 digs as Allison Nickel stuffed six shots.
In the dig department, junior Frenchy Silva had 18 and seniors Megan Dunne (10) and Angela Puente (15) also reached double-digits. In fact, Notre Dame started each of the three players while resorting to a smaller lineup with the absence of junior outside hitter Kristen Dealy.
The fresh look paid off for Notre Dame, which recorded 73 digs on the day. Connecticut finished with 57 digs. Notre Dame (57) had 10 more kills than the Huskies but tied the visitors with 11.5 blocks.
Leading by six (20-14) in the first stanza, Notre Dame was backed against a wall when the Huskies scored six straight. Puente dropped an unconventional kill to motor a 5-1 run at the 20-20 mark to put the Irish ahead on the scoreboard.
Each team’s worst hitting frame came when both posted a .100 average in the second. Senior Stephanie Slatt began her career day with an ace to give Notre Dame a 10-7 lead which was wipe out by a 5-1 Husky run. Notre Dame led, 15-14, before a 3-0 Husky spurt proved to be the difference in the visitors tying the score at 1-1 heading into intermission.
Slatt would add four kills, two assists and two digs over the remainder of the match.
Connecticut recorded just eight kills on a .103 average in the third and freshman Sam Brown came off the bench to crack three kills as the Irish posted their largest set victory for the match.
The Huskies out-hit the Irish in the fourth, .333 to .293, but could not handle a brilliant McHugh on the attack from the outside. McHugh saved seven of her kills for the final set to support an offense that struggled at times to find a groove.
A five-point lead at 9-4 was neutralized with an 8-2 Husky streak to put the home team behind. Six ties and four lead changes followed as the Irish fell behind once again, this time by a 22-18 margin. Sam Brown’s solo block tied it at 23-23, and McHugh’s seventh kill gave Notre Dame its first match point. Connecticut turned the tables with a pair of scores before the Irish answered with three straight points – including Sammie Brown’s final ace – for the win.
–ND–