Sept. 9, 2007
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Ellen Herman turned in a game-high 26 kills to lead No. 13 Ohio to a 3-1 (30-26, 25-30, 30-28, 30-23) win over the Notre Dame volleyball team Sunday in the championship match of the Shamrock Invitational at the Joyce Center. The Bobcats (6-2) picked up their offense in the last pair of games and hit .513 in the final frame after posting a .128 mark in game two.
Sophomore Megan Fesl (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) had 14 kills to pace the Irish (3-4), while senior Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) and sophomore Serinity Phillips (Valley Center, Calif./Valley Center) each chipped in 12. Fesl and Stasiuk finished with double-doubles as both notched 11 digs.
The Fighting Irish now look ahead to the Bronco Invitational hosted by Santa Clara from Sept. 14-16, opening play with UC Santa Barbara on Friday.
ND’s defense struggled early to find a way to stop Ohio’s hot hitting in game one, but closed the gap late despite hitting .108 in the stanza. Ohio led by as many as 12 before Fesl put down a pair of points and Phillips laced a kill during a 13-4 run to make it 29-26 in favor of the Bobcats. Melissa Griffin locked up the win with a kill off Michelle Jantsch’s dish.
The tides would turn in favor of the Irish as freshman Kellie Sciacca (Monument, Colo./Lewis-Palmer) had a kill on the slide to knot things at 7-7 in the second game, adding another to tie the count at 9-9. An attack from sophomore Tara Enzweiler (Raleigh, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) fell to give ND a 16-14 lead, and she assisted Fesl’s kill to put the Irish ahead by three at 18-15. Ohio took the next three points no sooner than Sciacca knocked two of her five kills in the frame. She helped Notre Dame to a .268 hitting percentage in its lone game victory.
Game three turned into a battle quickly with neither team leading by more than three scores in its entirety. A solo block by Tarutis put ND up, 4-1, with Ohio taking the next four points. Tied at 16-16, the Bobcats’ 4-0 run was ended by a converted attack by Fesl. Phillips put ND in front again, 25-24, with Stasiuk keeping that margin with a score at 26-25. Four-straight points by the Bobcats set up game point, but a pair of errors brought ND within one until Blackburn unleashed Ohio’s game-winner.
Herman had 12 kills in game four, and the Irish found themselves with the lead only once (6-5) courtesy of Jantsch’s error on a swing.
All-Tournament Team
MVP – Stephanie Blackburn, Ohio
Michelle Jantsch, Ohio
Jane Systma, Ohio
Megan Fesl, Notre Dame
Serinity Phillips, Notre Dame
Amy Pauly, Alabama
Whitney Russell, College of Charleston
–ND–