Nov. 20, 2003
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BIG EAST Championship
[1] Pittsburgh (22-4, 11-1) vs. [4] Villanova (14-14, 7-5)
Semifinals * Saturday, Nov. 22, 1:00 p.m. * Joyce Center
[2] #17 Notre Dame (22-4, 11-1) vs. [3] Miami (22-8, 9-3)
Semifinals * Saturday, Nov. 22, 3:30 p.m. * Joyce Center
Semifinal Winners
Final * Sunday, Nov. 23, 2:00 p.m. * Joyce Center
The 17th-ranked University of Notre Dame volleyball team (22-4, 11-1) will try to win its eighth title in nine years since joining the league in this weekend’s BIG EAST Championship, to be held Saturday and Sunday in the Joyce Center. The Irish, who were one of the league’s regular-season co-champions and the second seed, will play host to Miami (22-8, 9-3) at 3:30 p.m. (EST) on Saturday in a semifinal match. The other semifinal, between top-seeded co-champion Pittsburgh (22-4, 11-1) and fourth-seeded Villanova (14-14, 7-5), will begin at 1 p.m. (EST) on Saturday, while the winners will meet on Sunday at 2 p.m. (EST) in the championship.
FOLLOWING THE BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP: Fans and media unable to attend the BIG EAST Championship will have a number of ways of keeping up with the action. Notre Dame’s official athletic website, www.und.com, will feature links to live scoring of all three matches throughout the weekend, as well as live internet audio broadcasts of the matches involving the Irish, with Lorne Oke and Stephen Hinkel bringing the action to subscribers of College Sports Pass. Live stats can be accessed at . Be advised, however, that statistics displayed are not official until the match is completed. For other ways to follow the Irish, see “Keeping Up With ND Volleyball” on page 9 of this release.
SNAPSHOT OF THE IRISH: Notre Dame’s women’s volleyball program has experienced a wealth of success since the arrival of head coach Debbie Brown in 1991. In her 12+ seasons, Brown has guided Notre Dame to a winning record every year (and 20+ wins in every year but one), compiling a 322-108 (.749) mark. The Irish have earned 11 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 eight regular-season and seven tournament titles in nine years. Overall, the Irish are 98-5 in regular-season BIG EAST play and 16-1 in conference tournament action. Notre Dame is 56-0 in BIG EAST regular-season matches in the Joyce Center, as well as 4-0 in home conference tournament action.
The 2003 Irish team returned 12 monogram winners and six starters from last year’s squad that was 24-8 and earned the No. 16 seed in the NCAA Championship, playing host to first- and second-round play. The Irish also finished second in the nation in blocks per game (3.66) with all the players responsible for that number returning to the fold. This season Notre Dame leads the nation in blocking at 3.73 per game, with the second-best team in Division I, Cornell, at 3.52 heading into last week.
After playing the first 10 matches with a 6-2 rotation, the Irish have returned to their traditional 5-1 offense. Senior S Kristen Kinder (the ’01 BIG EAST Setter of the Year) orchestrates the Notre Dame attack for the third consecutive season, having helped the Irish to a 68-19 (.782) record as a starter. On the right side, junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis, the ’02 BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player and a preseason all-conference selection, leads the Irish in kills for the second straight season. She already has set two school records this year: most kills in a match without an error (24, 9/9 vs. Valparaiso) and consecutive matches with 10+ kills (21). The middle is patrolled by a pair of sophomores named Lauren having outstanding seasons. MB Lauren Kelbley, the ’02 BIG EAST and AVCA Northeast Region Rookie of the Year, and MB Lauren Brewster, who set the Irish record for blocks assists (161) in a season in ’02, returned after stepping in immediately as freshman starters. They have combined to win five BIG EAST Player of the Week awards this season (Kelbley-two, Brewster-three), while Brewster is second in the nation in individual blocking (1.79) and is tops on the team in hitting (.368). On the left side, OH Jessica Kinder, twin sister of Kristen, is one of the hardest hitters and also one of the top defensive players on the team. She set a school record for digs in a three-game match (28) on Sept. 9 vs. Valparaiso. A pair of seniors, OPP Katie Neff and OPP/OH Kim Fletcher, also have been strong presences on the front row at times. L/OH Meg Henican is averaging 4.07 digs as the starting libero after playing on the left side in the 6-2. DS/L Danielle Herndon, the lone freshman on the Irish, started the season at libero, but now is a back-row sub.
LAST TIME ON THE COURT: Notre Dame split a pair of road matches in its final weekend of BIG EAST Conference play. The Irish beat West Virginia 3-0 on Saturday morning before falling in five games at Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon.
Notre Dame clinched a share of its eighth BIG EAST title in nine years in the league with a 30-22, 30-25, 30-20 win vs. West Virginia in the WVU Coliseum. The Irish were strong offensively, hitting .358 behind the setting of senior co-captain Kristen Kinder (Fresno, Calif./Bullard H.S.). She finished with 35 assists, while also accounting for five kills on nine attempts and registering eight digs and three blocks. Sophomore MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) was the most effective hitter for the Irish, cranking 12 kills while making only one error on 19 swings, a hitting percentage of .579. Senior OPP Katie Neff (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) did not make an error, slamming nine kills on .429 hitting, her top mark of the season. Sophomore MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) had her second-best hitting percentage of the season, a .625 mark accrued from converting eight attack attempts into six kills.
Senior OH Jessica Kinder (Fresno, Calif./Bullard H.S.) was outstanding defensively, registering 20 kills. She now owns two of the top five digging performances in three-game matches in Irish history, having set the school record with 28 vs. Valparaiso in September. Kinder has had 20 or more digs four times this season. Sophomore L/OH Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.) added 15 digs, marking the ninth time she has had 15 or more in a match this season. The two combined for 58 percent of Notre Dame’s 60 digs.
The nation’s leading blocking team, Notre Dame had 11. Sophomore MB Carolyn Cooper (Houston, Texas) led the way with a season-high six blocks, while Brewster, who ranks second in Division I in individual blocking, was in on five.
Notre Dame served well, registering six aces and only five service errors. Loomis led the way with a pair.
All 13 healthy Irish players saw action on Sunday, marking just the third time this season that occurred.
Notre Dame was foiled in its bid for the outright BIG EAST Conference regular-season championship in a 20-30, 30-26, 30-25, 13-30, 15-13 loss to Pittsburgh. The teams finished as league co-champions, but the Panthers secured the No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST Championship. The Irish won the first four points of the final game and led 6-1 before Pittsburgh rallied to tie the score 8-8. The Panthers edged ahead 12-10 and held on to gain their first win over Notre Dame since 1990, ending a string of 15 consecutive losses.
Notre Dame’s offense struggled much of the night, hitting over .230 in just one game and finishing at .215. Brewster posted her third double-double of the season with 21 kills and 10 blocks. Kristen Kinder also had a double-double, with 51 assists and a season-high 15 digs.
Henican paced the floor game with a career-high 25 digs. The Irish posted a season-high 22.5 blocks, an average of 4.5 per game.
IRISH FALL TO 17TH IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: After its first non-winning week of the season, Notre Dame fell five spots to 17th in this week’s USA Today/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25. The ranking is the highest for Notre Dame since Sept. 30, 1996, when it was also 12th. A week ago, the Irish were ranked 10th by Volleyball magazine, 12th by RichKern.com, and 16th in the RKPI rankings, which are designed to emulate the NCAA’s RPI rankings.
Three ’03 Irish opponents were listed among the top 15 in this week’s AVCA top 25. Pepperdine (L, 1-3) leads the way at fourth, while Stanford (Nov. 29, away) is seventh, Northern Iowa (L, 1-3) is 12th, and Arizona (W, 3-1) is 25th. Pittsburgh (L, 2-3) and Utah (W, 3-2) are receiving votes, but are not listed in the top 25.
IRISH OFF TO SECOND-BEST START IN SCHOOL HISTORY: Despite Notre Dame’s two losses last week, the Irish are still off to the second-best start through 26 matches in school history. Notre Dame’s 22-4 record is second only to that of the 1994 team, which was 24-2 en route to a 33-4 final record and a berth in the round of 16 of the NCAA Championship.
IRISH MAINTAIN NATIONAL LEAD IN BLOCKING, BREWSTER SECOND: Notre Dame continues to hold a healthy lead nationally among Division I teams in blocking last week, while sophomore MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) remained second among individual blocking leaders. The Irish are averaging 3.73 blocks per game this season, with Cornell, the nation’s second-best team, at 3.52. Brewster is averaging 1.79, second only to Valparaiso’s Liz Mikos’ average of 1.80.
Notre Dame had a season-high 22.5 blocks at Pittsburgh on Sunday and averaged 4.18 blocks over the weekend. Prior to that, the Irish had turned in three consecutive subpar blocking performances, averaging just 2.79 blocks per game (33.5 blocks, 12 games). That came on the heels of a six-match stretch in which Notre Dame averged 4.89 blocks per game (93 blocks, 19 games). Brewster had 10 on Sunday after averaging 1.62 over the previous six matches. Prior to that, she averaged 2.50 blocks (40 blocks, 16 games) per game over a five-match stretch.
A year ago, Notre Dame finished second nationally in blocking with a school-record average of 3.66, while Brewster was fourth at 1.68.
BIG EAST AWARDS: Notre Dame has a number of candidates for the BIG EAST Conference yearly awards, which will be announced on Friday at the annual league banquet. The honors presented, all determined by votes of conference head coaches, will be Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Libero of the Year (presented for the first time), and three teams of all-conference selections (first team, second team, honorable mention with six players on each).
Notre Dame has had a history of success in the BIG EAST awards in its eight previous seasons in the league. Head coach Debbie Brown has been tabbed the conference’s top coach three times (1995, 2000, ’01), while she has seen her players earn player-of-the-year honors six times (every year but ’98 and ’02, most recently Malinda Goralski in 2001). MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) was the league’s best rookie in 2002, while 28 players have earned all-conference honors, including 17 on the first team. Among current Irish players, OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) was a first-team selection last season, while S Kristen Kinder (Fresno, Calif./Bullard H.S.) earned second-team honors in ’01 and ’02. Kelbley was a second-team honoree a season ago, while OPP/OH Kim Fletcher (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) was in ’01. MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) gained honorable mention last year.
NOTRE DAME WINNING STREAK SNAPPED AT 14: The Nov. 11 loss at Northern Iowa snapped a 14-match winning streak for the Irish, which dated back to a 3-1 loss at home against South Carolina on Sept. 14. The winning streak was the second-longest in the 24-year history of Notre Dame varsity volleyball and the longest under 13-year head coach Debbie Brown. The longest winning streak in school history was 17 matches in 1986. Over the streak, Notre Dame won 42 of 48 games, surrendering one each to Purdue, Villanova, Connecticut, and North Carolina, as well as two to Virginia Tech.
In the Brown era, the Irish have had 29 different winning streaks of five matches or more, winning five in a row seven times, six straight four times, seven in a row three times, eight straight four times, nine in a row six times, 10 straight once, 11 in a row twice, and 12 straight once, and 14 in a row once.
Notre Dame also was just two shy of a pair of other school records before losing to UNI. The Irish had won eight in a row away from home and six straight on opponents’ home courts.
CLASS OF THE CONFERENCE: Since Notre Dame joined the BIG EAST Conference in 1995, the Irish have experienced incredible success in league play. Overall, Notre Dame is 98-5 in conference regular-season matches and 16-1 in the BIG EAST Championship. In eight seasons, the Irish have won eight regular-season titles and seven tournament titles. Notre Dame is 56-0 at home in BIG EAST regular-season matches and 4-0 in league tournament action in the Joyce Center.
This season, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh (22-4, 11-1) tied for the regular-season crown with identical 11-1 records. The lone Irish conference loss came in five games to the Panthers on Sunday. Miami (22-8, 9-3) and Villanova (14-14, 7-5) secured the other two positions in the BIG EAST Championship.
GOOD START: Notre Dame opened BIG EAST Conference play 11-0 for the eighth time in nine years since joining the league in 1995. The Irish have posted six undefeated conference seasons and started 11-0 in each of the last two seasons before losing. The only year Notre Dame did not win at least its first 11 league matches was 1998, when the Irish lost at Connecticut in their third conference match of the year.
IRISH IN THE BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP: For the ninth consecutive year, Notre Dame has earned a berth in the BIG EAST Championship to take place Saturday and Sunday in the Joyce Center. The tournament features the top four teams in the conference, as determined by winning percentage in league matches, taking part in a single-elimination tournament. The winner receives the BIG EAST’s automatic berth in the NCAA Championship, which begins at campus sites on Dec. 4. This is the third time Notre Dame has played host to the conference tournament, after doing so in 1995 and 2000.
The Irish are 16-1 in the league tournament, having won seven championships. Notre Dame’s only defeat came in the 1999 title match, a three-game defeat against Georgetown. The Irish come into the BIG EAST tournament as the No. 2 seed for the first time in history. Notre Dame was the top seed in every previous league championship except the ’98 edition, in which the Irish were the third seed.
The Irish, seeded second after an 11-1 conference season, will take on third-seeded Miami (22-8, 9-3) at 3:30 p.m. (EST) on Saturday in the second semifinal. Top-seeded conference co-champion Pittsburgh (22-4, 11-1) and fourth-seeded Villanove (14-14, 7-5) will play at 1 p.m. (EST) on Saturday. The winners of those matches will tussle for the league title on Sunday at 2 p.m. (EST).
A season ago, Notre Dame lost its final two regular-season matches, but rebounded for four-game victories over Connecticut and Miami to capture the title in Pittsburgh, Pa. OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player with 21 kills on .462 hitting.
HOME, SWEET HOME: Playing in the Joyce Center has been a nightmare for opponents, especially since head coach Debbie Brown took over the Irish program in 1991. In that span, Notre Dame is 158-22 (.878) at home, including a school-record 36-match winning streak from 2000-02. In addition to holding a 56-0 all-time mark at home in BIG EAST matches, the Irish have had incredible success against unranked teams. In the Brown era, Notre Dame is 151-5 (.968) against unranked foes in the Joyce Center, with the losses coming to Santa Clara in 1993, Ball State in ’96, Oral Roberts in ’98, Michigan State in the ’02 NCAA tournament, and South Carolina in ’03. Each of the first three defeats came in five games. The loss to MSU snapped the 36-match overall home streak and a 52-match home winning streak against unranked teams.
TAKE 20: Notre Dame’s win over Virginia Tech on Nov. 7 improved its record to 20-2, marking its fifth consecutive 20-win season and the 12th time in 13 years under head coach Debbie Brown that the Irish have won at least 20 matches. The lone exception was an 18-13 campaign in 1998. Overall, this is the 15th season with 20+ victories in 24 years of varsity volleyball at Notre Dame.
LOOMIS NEARS 1,000 CAREER KILLS: Junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) enters the weekend with 967 career kills, just 33 shy of 1,000. She will be the 13th player in Notre Dame history to register 1,000 career kills. The last to do so was 2001 graduate Kristy Kreher.
BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK DOMINANCE: Notre Dame has dominated the BIG EAST Player of the Week award this season, gaining at least a share of it seven times in 11 weeks (while being idle once). Junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) won the initial honor of the season, on Sept. 1. Sophomore MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) was named a BIG EAST Co-Player of the Week Sept. 8 after her tournament-MVP performance in the Longhorn Classic and won the honor again on Sept. 29.
Sophomore MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) dominated the award in the month of October, winning it three times and missing out only on an idle week for the Irish. She gained the distinction Oct. 6, 13, and 27. Brewster is just the third Irish player ever to be named BIG EAST player of the week three times in a season. She joins Mary Leffers (1999) and Kristy Kreher (2001) in that group. She and St. John’s sophomore Jackie Ahlers are the only two players to win the award three times this season.
Most recently, senior co-captain Kristen Kinder (Fresno, Calif./Bullard H.S.) won the award on Nov. 10.
LOOMIS BREAKS A PAIR OF SCHOOL RECORDS: Junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) has broken a pair of Irish records this season. In the Sept. 9 Valparaiso match, she set a Notre Dame record for most kills in a match without an error (24), while also falling just shy of the school record for kills in a three-game match. The previous mark for most kills without an error was 23, done by Jaimie Lee on September 8, 1995 at Indiana in a five-game victory.
Loomis also set a new record for consecutive matches with 10 or more kills, with a 21-match streak including the final six contests of 2002 and each of the first 15 this year. It was snapped when she had seven kills against Rutgers on Oct. 12. The longest streak of that kind prior to Loomis’ was a 17-match stretch by Angie Harris from Oct. 5 to Nov. 28 in 1997. Loomis’ 15-match streak this season was the third-longest in a single season.
Jessica Kinder DIGS HER WAY TO SCHOOL RECORD: On Sept. 9 vs. Valparaiso, Notre Dame senior co-captain OH Jessica Kinder (Fresno, Calif./Bullard H.S.) set a Notre Dame record with 28 digs, the most ever by an Irish player in a three-game match. Her performance, which featured 10 digs in the first game, three in the second, and 15 in the final frame, bettered the previous record by three. Tracey Shelton scrambled for 25 digs in a three-game win over Butler on Oct. 25, 1989. Kinder’s 28 were the most in any length match for an Irish player since October 25, 1993, when Christy Peters had 31 at Arizona State in a four-game contest.
OCTOBER FEST: Notre Dame posted a perfect 8-0 record in the month of October, marking the first-ever perfect record in a full month of play in the 24-year history of the program. The Irish, who took 24 of 26 games last month, have won 11 consecutive October matches, dating back to last year. Over the last four-plus years, Notre Dame is 34-5 (.872) in October.
Six times before have the Irish gone undefeated in a month featuring a limited schedule — never one with more than four matches in it. Notre Dame went unbeaten in August in 1987 (1-0), ’91 (1-0), ’96 (3-0), 2001 (1-0) and ’02 (2-0), as well as posting an undefeated November (4-0) in 1982.
TOP-15 BATTLE: The Nov. 11 match at Northern Iowa marked the first time since Sept. 13, 1996 that Notre Dame had been involved in a match between teams both ranked among the top 15 in the AVCA poll. On that occasion, #5 Penn State rallied from a game-one loss for a 3-1 victory over #11 Notre Dame in the Mizuno USA Cup in Chicago. The Irish faced a team ranked in the national top 25 for the third time this season. Notre Dame opened the season against #10 Arizona (W, 3-1) and #5 Pepperdine (L, 3-1), but then played 21 matches against unranked foes.
PACKING THEM IN: A crowd of 8,643 watched Notre Dame outlast Virginia Tech 3-2 on Nov. 7, setting a new Joyce Center attendance record for volleyball by more than 5,000. It was the fourth-largest crowd for a collegiate volleyball match this season. The previous mark was 3,351 on Nov. 1, 2002 vs. Providence. Both matches were played immediately before Irish football pep rallies.
Two days later, 2,715 packed the Joyce to watch the Irish beat Miami 3-0 in a match televised by College Sports Television. It was the largest volleyball crowd in the building for a match not played before a football pep rally.
For the weekend, a total of 11,358 watched Notre Dame volleyball, pushing the Irish season attendance to 21,302, a new all-time high. The Irish also are on pace to set a new average attendance mark, currently welcoming 1,639 fans per match. A year ago, Notre Dame averaged 1,064, which was the highest in the program’s history to that point. The Irish rank ninth nationally in total attendance this season and 14th in average per match.
NOTRE DAME DEFENSE REGISTERS A FIRST IN PROGRAM’S HISTORY: The Notre Dame defense held its opponents to identical -.008 hitting percentages in consecutive matches two weeks ago. It was the first time in the 24-year history of the program that Irish opponents registered more errors than kills in back-to-back matches. On Oct. 29, Illinois State had 31 kills and 32 errors on 132 attempts. Two days later, Syracuse notched 32 kills and 33 errors on 129 swings on Sunday. Once before, in 1995, Notre Dame held opponents to negative percentages twice in a three-match span.
On the season, the Irish are on pace to set a new school record for lowest opponent hitting average, holding foes to a .148 percentage. Notre Dame has seen the opposition hit .190 or better just seven times in 23 matches. Irish opponents hit .070 or worse in four straight matches heading into last week, a combined percentage of .013. Irish foes have been under .090 on eight occasions in ’03.
In BIG EAST play, Notre Dame came into last week allowing a .125 attack percentage, by far the best defensive effort in the league. Pittsburgh was second, surrendering a .158 hitting percentage to opponents.
REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS: The 2003 season has produced a number of individual and team performances that rank among the best in the 24-year history of the Irish program.
On the team front, Notre Dame is currently on pace to break four school season records: block average (3.73; record is 3.66 in ’02), low opponent hitting percentage (.150; record is .151 in ’86), and low opponent ace average (0.95; record is 1.11 in ’96). The Irish also currently rank second all-time in winning percentage (.846; record is .892 in ’94), second in five-game matches (3-1, .750; record is 5-1, .833 in ’92), sixth in kill average (15.60; record is 17.43 in ’00) and home record (12-1, .923; record is 1.000 in ’94 & ’01), and seventh in fewest service errors per game (2.29 in ’03; record is 1.68 in ’96 & ’98).
Individually, a number of players are on pace to etch their names among the all-time season leaders. Sophomore MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) is averaging 1.79 blocks per game, which currently ranks as the second-best season blocking average in history, just behind Mary Kay Waller’s school record of 1.79 in 1988. Brewster is eighth in total blocks (163) and her hitting percentage of .368 ranks as the fifth-best mark in a season, while sophomore MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) is 11th at .316. Kelbley’s 22 matches with 10 or more kills is tied for 12th, while the 23 turned in by junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) put her in a tie for eighth. Two Irish players are posting dig numbers that are among the best eight defensive seasons ever. Sophomore L/OH Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.) is averaging 3.70 per game, currently ranking fourth, while senior co-captain OH Jessica Kinder (Fresno, Calif./Bullard H.S.) is at 3.27, which is eighth. Henican is seventh in digs at 355. Additionally, four Irish players — Henican, Loomis, Jessica Kinder, and senior co-captain S Kristen Kinder (Fresno, Calif./Bullard H.S.) — have played in all 96 games this season. Only six players in history have played in every game in a season.
A number of Irish players also are moving up the all-time career lists in various categories. Loomis is among the leaders in six categories: percentage of games played (2nd, .954), kill average (5th, 3.24), percentage of matches played (6th, .989), matches with 20+ kills (7th, 6), matches with 10+ kills (7th, 55), and block average (14th, 0.90). Kristen Kinder is third in assists (3,498) and fourth in assist average (10.80). Jessica Kinder ranks third in total service aces (116), fourth in ace average (0.367), and 11th in dig average (2.48). Fellow senior OPP/OH Kim Fletcher (St. Louis, Mo./Nerinx Hall H.S.) is 11th in hitting percentage (.270), while classmate OPP Katie Neff (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) is 12th in block average (1.00). Brewster, Kelbley, and Henican have reached minimums in three categories to qualify for the career leaders and figure to move into others as they play more matches. Brewster’s career block average of 1.73 currently is tops all-time, ahead of Waller’s sch