Sept. 14, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Sophomore outside hitter Kristen Dealy was named the BIG EAST Conference Player of Week, as announced by the league Monday afternoon. The Santa Barbara, Calif., native earned the honor on the heels of being named MVP of the Notre Dame / adidas Invitational after leading the Irish to wins over Wisconsin (Sept. 11) and New Mexico State (Sept. 13).
Dealy posted a season-best 19 kills with 13 digs for a double-double and three aces in the tournament’s opening match against the Badgers. More importantly for Notre Dame, not only was it the first win against the Badgers for Irish head coach Debbie Brown in six tries – and Notre Dame’s first since 1987 – but it was just the second win overall for Notre Dame against a Wisconsin program that eliminated the Irish from their last three NCAA Tournament appearances (2004, 2005 and 2006).
Dealy added 12 kills against New Mexico State while cleanly fielding 24 serves in the tournament finale.
She averaged 4.43 kills/set and 2.57 digs/set over the weekend.
Notre Dame hits the road this weekend with a trip to the Seminole Tri-Tournament hosted by Florida State. The Irish face Miami (Sept. 19) and Florida State (Sept. 20) before opening BIG EAST Conference play at Connecticut on Sept. 25.
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