Junior Kathleen Severyn.

Meet The Team Dinner Excites Fans For Home Opener

Sep 5, 2013

GOLDEN DOME INVITATIONAL – TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

TICKET INFORMATION

2013 Golden Dome Invitational

Purcell Pavilion – Notre Dame, Ind.

Bowling Green vs. Notre Dame

Friday, Sept. 6 – 7 p.m.

No. 22 Purdue vs. Notre Dame

Saturday, Sept. 7 – 6 p.m.

TAURON MKS DÔ…browa Gornicza vs. Notre Dame

Sunday, Sept. 8 – 2 p.m.

LIVE STATS

UND.com

BROADCAST

WatchND.TV

UPDATES

Facebook – NDVolleyball

Twitter – @NDVolleyball
Irish Alert! Text Messaging

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – With the home opener just days away, 250 loyal fans packed Club Naimoli in Purcell Pavilion Wednesday night to meet the 2013 University of Notre Dame volleyball team.

Fans were treated to plenty of fun and laughs as each table was able to share a meal from Famous Dave’s BBQ while sitting with a student-athlete or coach from the team. Following dinner each member of the team was asked to stand up and tell the audience their name, position, class year, major and hometown before ending with a fun fact.

Facts learned included – 1. Junior Erin Klosterman advanced to regionals in the national spelling bee as a child. The word missed you ask ââ’¬¦ aggressive. 2. Sophomore Hanna Muzzonigro is related to every Muzzonigro in the world. 3. Junior Toni Alugbue claims to not be able to wiggle her toes.

Following the meet the team session, fans of all ages had the opportunity to secure autographs of the team on a commemorative poster.

Young Irish fan Sierra Henthorn brought her parents Patrick and Jennifer Henthorn to the event and had a blast. She mentioned that her favorite part “was getting autographs on my ball” and that her favorite players were “Jeni (Houser) and Toni (Alugbue).”

While the event is special for the fans, the players enjoy getting to sit and chat with the same people that will pour into Purcell Pavilion this weekend for the Golden Dome Invitational.

“We had a really great turnout tonight and it definitely means a lot when the stands are packed for all our home matches,” said junior libero and defensive specialist Kathleen Severyn. “We are ready to play our first season in the ACC and it’s great to see that our fans are just as excited.

“It’s awesome to see all the little girls in the audience because it brings me back to when I was young. You always have these big dreams (about playing college volleyball), but you never expect to get here. To be a role model to these girls definitely means a lot to us and we get excited every home match to see them cheering us on in Purcell.”

The first chance for the Irish fans to check out the 2013 squad is this weekend when Bowling Green, No. 22 Purdue and the Polish club team TAURON MKS DÔ…browa Gornicza invade Purcell for the Golden Dome Invitational.

The Irish meet the Falcons at 7 p.m. Friday before playing the Boilermakers at 6 p.m. Saturday. Notre Dame closes out the weekend with an exhibition match against Dabrowa at 2 p.m. A full list of all matches is available on the tournament central page here.

The weekend will be filled with plenty of opportunities for fans to interact with the team. Fans will get free t-shirts Friday night for the first “Free Shirt Friday” promotion and there will be a post-match autograph session with the whole team. Sunday there will be an Irish Spikers Clinic for children that are in eighth grade or younger and are apart of the Irish Spikers Club following the match against Dabrowa. Lastly, there will be a post-match Club Naimoli reception for all fans.

Fans can purchase tickets upon arrival at Purcell, with prices ranging from $5 for the general public to $3 for youth and seniors. Children under the age of three get in free.

Notre Dame (1-2) is coming off a tough weekend in Murfreesboro, Tenn., where they lost to ACC foe and current No. 24 North Carolina (3-0) Friday before falling to tournament host Middle Tennessee State (3-1) Saturday morning. The Irish bounced back to defeat San Francisco in five sets to end the trip on a positive note. Against the Dons, Notre Dame went up 2-0 before dropping the next two sets. However, the Irish showed their fighting spirit by taking set five, 15-9, to earn their first win of the season.

This weekend will offer a whole new set of challenges as three tough competitors invade Notre Dame’s home arena. Bowling Green enters the weekend at 1-2, but pulled off a huge win for the program with a 3-2 victory over then-No. 13 BYU at home this past weekend.

Purdue also sits at 1-2, but both losses came to ranked foes in then-No. 4 USC and then-No. 21 Western Kentucky.

Dabrowa played current No. 1 Penn State, falling 3-0, but showing some fight, losing three tight sets, 28-26, 25-21 and 25-20.

Fans that can’t make the matches can watch a free online video stream at WatchND.TV or follow live stats at UND.com. There will also be updates on Notre Dame’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/NDVolleyball) and on Twitter (@NDVolleyball).

— Russell Dorn, Assistant Media Relations Director

–ND–