Sept. 25, 2003
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 17th-ranked University of Notre Dame volleyball team (8-2) begins its quest for an eighth BIG EAST Conference title in nine seasons in the league this weekend. The Irish open conference play by taking on Villanova (3-9) on Friday at 7 p.m. (EST) before playing host to perennial power Georgetown (4-9) on Sunday at 2 p.m. (EST). Notre Dame holds a combined 23-1 all-time record against the teams.
LIVE STATS & AUDIO BROADCAST AVAILABLE ON www.und.com: Fans and media unable to attend Notre Dame home matches can follow the action via live statistics on the official Irish athletic website. Live stats can be accessed at http://und.ocsn.com/livestats/w-volley. Be advised, however, that statistics displayed are not official. In addition, a live internet audio broadcast of Sunday’s match will be available to subscribers of College Sports Pass, via www.und.com. For other ways to follow the Irish, see “Keeping Up With ND Volleyball” on page 7 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, compiling a 308-104 (.747) mark. The Irish have earned 11 consecutive berths to the NCAA Championship, including three trips to the round of 16 (1994, ’95, and ’97) and a ’93 quarterfinal finish. Since joining the BIG EAST Conference in ’95, Notre Dame has dominated the league, winning seven regular-season and seven tournament titles in eight years. Overall, the Irish are 87-4 in regular-season BIG EAST play and 16-1 in conference tournament action. Notre Dame is 49-0 in BIG EAST matches in the Joyce Center.
The 2003 Irish team returns 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 year’s squad features a new 6-2 rotation, with senior S Kristen Kinder (the ’01 BIG EAST Setter of the Year) and sophomore S Kelly Burrell combining to orchestrate the attack. 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 after doing the same a year ago. Against Valparaiso on Sept. 9, Loomis set a school record for most kills in a match without an error (24). Senior OPP Katie Neff also returns for her second year as a major contributor, rotating in off the bench for front-row play. The middle is patrolled by a pair of sophomores named Lauren. MB Lauren Kelbley, the ’02 BIG EAST and AVCA Northeast Region Rookie of the Year, and MB Lauren Brewster, who set the Notre Dame record for block assists (161) last year, return for the Irish after stepping in immediately as freshman starters. Kelbley was the tournament MVP of the Longhorn Classic, while Brewster, who copped the honor in the Shamrock Invitational, leads the BIG EAST in blocks (154/1.50). On the left side, OH Jessica Kinder, twin sister of Kristen, and OH Meg Henican provide a great deal of punch. Both are outstanding defensively, with Henican occasionally seeing time at libero and Kinder having set a school record for digs in a three-game match (28) last week vs. Valparaiso. L Danielle Herndon, the lone freshman on the Irish, is the starting libero.
LAST TIME ON THE COURT: Sophomore MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) posted a double-double, with 13 kills and 13 blocks, in helping Notre Dame to a four-game victory (30-23, 30-17, 29-31, 30-20) against Purdue (7-3) on Sept. 17 in the Joyce Center. The Irish hit with pinpoint accuracy most of the night, accumulating a .311 attack percentage on the match.
Brewster made just one error, finishing with a team-best .429 hitting percentage. She also matched her career high with three aces for a total of 24 points. Her 13 blocks, of which three were of the solo variety, marked the second time in three matches she posted that total. Prior to this stretch, no Notre Dame player had been in on 13 blocks in a match since Molly Stark had 15 on October 2, 1993 in a four-game win vs. Western Michigan.
Also delivering outstanding offensive performances for the Irish were junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) and sophomore MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.). Loomis had a team-high 15 kills and no errors on 37 swings for a .405 percentage, while Kelbley registered 14 kills on .414 hitting.
Orchestrating Notre Dame’s offense were senior S Kristen Kinder (Fresno, Calif./Bullard H.S.) and sophomore S Kelly Burrell (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier Preparatory School). Kinder matched her season high with 35 assists.
The Irish also were superb at the net, notching 19 blocks, with seven different players getting into the act.
IRISH MOVE UP TO 17TH: After defeating Purdue 3-1 in its only action of the week, Notre Dame moved up one spot to 17th in this week’s USA Today/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25, released Monday. The Irish peaked this season at 15th on Sept. 8, which marked the highest listing for Notre Dame since Sept. 30, 1996, when it was 12th. Notre Dame is 16th in the RichKern.com rankings and is receiving votes in the Volleyball Magazine poll, which lists only 20 teams.
Four ’03 Irish opponents are listed in this week’s AVCA top 25, including three in the top 10. Stanford (Nov. 29, away) leads the way at fourth, while Pepperdine (L, 1-3) is seventh, Northern Iowa (Nov. 11, away) is 10th, , and Arizona (W, 3-1) is 22nd. South Carolina (L, 1-3) and North Carolina (Oct. 21, away) received votes, but were not in the top 25.
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 87-4 in conference regular-season matches and 16-1 in the BIG EAST Championship. In eight seasons, the Irish have won seven regular-season titles and seven tournament titles. Notre Dame is 49-0 at home in BIG EAST matches.
LONG LAYOFF: Notre Dame returns to the court after an eight-day layoff since its match against Purdue. The break is the longest of the 2003 season and last weekend’s inaction marked the only off weekend for the Irish all year.
BLOCK PARTY: Once again, Notre Dame has one of the best blocking units in the nation. The Irish have 124.5 blocks in 10 matches this seson, an average of 3.11 per game, which is good enough for eighth among Division I teams. Stanford is first at 3.61 blocks per game. Notre Dame leads the BIG EAST Conference, with second-place Connecticut averaging 2.55 blocks. Sophomore MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) leads the BIG EAST in blocks (154/1.50) and ranks 15th in the nation in the category. In 2002, the Irish finished second nationally to Nebraska with a school-record average of 3.83 blocks per game.
SCHOOL RECORD I — JESS DIG IT: Last Tuesday 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. Other than Shelton and Kinder, no other Irish players have ever had more than 21 digs in a straight-game match. Kinder’s previous career high was 22 vs. Pepperdine last September in a five-game affair. She came into Tuesday having registered 40 digs over the first five matches of the season. 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.
SCHOOL RECORD II — LETHAL LOOMIS: In the Sept. 9 Valparaiso match, junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) set a Notre Dame record for most kills in a match without an error (24), while 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. Just seven days after that match, Angie Harrris had 25 kills in a three-game win against Colorado, setting the record for kills in a 3-0 decision. Loomis joined Christy Peters in the 24-kill club in three-game matches. Peters turned the trick in a straight-game defeat against Long Beach State in Chicago on September 11, 1993. Against Valpo, Loomis had 42 attack attempts for a .571 attack percentage.
IRISH AMONG THE BIG EAST LEADERS: A number of Irish players are among the BIG EAST Conference statistical leaders through three weeks of play. Sophomore MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) leads the league in blocks (1.50), while junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) is among the top 10 in three different categories: hitting percentage (7th, .333), kills (8th, 3.80), and points (7th, 4.40). Sophomore MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) is listed among the leaders in both blocks (7th, 1.13) and hitting percentage (8th, .321).
In the team statistics, Notre Dame leads the conference in blocks, at 3.11 per game. The Irish are in the top five in four other categories: hitting percentage (5th, .231), opponent hitting percentage (5th, .177), assists (4th, 13.23), and kills (4th, 15.02).
PRESEASON BIG EAST FAVORITES: Once again Notre Dame is the favorite in the BIG EAST Conference. The Irish, who have captured seven regular-season and seven tournament crowns in their eight years in the league, garnered nine first-place votes and were chosen as the favorite in the preseason volleyball poll of conference head coaches. Miami gained four first-place votes and was picked second with 136 points. The teams will meet in the Joyce Center on November 9 in a match televised by College Sports Television (CSTV) in its Sunday Night Spike national match-of-the-week package.
Two Irish players, junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) and sophomore middle blocker Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.), were selected to the preseason all-BIG EAST team. Loomis was the Most Outstanding Player in the ’02 BIG EAST Championship, while Kelbley was the conference rookie of the year.
YOU DIG ME?: After averaging just 11.80 digs per game through the first six matches, the lowest average in the BIG EAST Conference, Notre Dame’s has defense exploded in its last five matches for last week for 352, including three contests with 70 or more, for an average of 17.6 per game. Against Valparaiso, Notre Dame had 81 in just three games. The performance was just seven shy of the school record for digs in a three-game match. On October 18, 1991, the Irish had 88 in a three-game win vs. Butler. The 81 digs marked the most by the Irish in any length match since they had 108 in five games against Illinois State on Nov. 14, 2001.
PACKING THEM IN: After opening the season with five consecutive road matches, Notre Dame has played its last five contests at home, averaging 822 fans. The Irish currently rank 25th in the nation in average attendance and first in the Northeast Region. Hawaii is first overall at 7,165 per match. Among Notre Dame’s road opponents in the leaders are Stanford (Nov. 29) at eighth (1,880), Northern Iowa (Nov. 11) at 10th (1,721 avg.), and Texas (W, 3-0) at 20th (1,204).
Notre Dame’s season-opening crowd of 828 vs. Valparaiso marked the best opening-night turnout for the Irish since 1,350 fans were at the 1997 opener vs. Louisville. It was a 30 percent hike from last season’s first home match and continued a streak of increased attendance at Irish volleyball matches. Dating back to last season, 10 of the last 12 matches have featured crowds of at least 800. In 2002, Notre Dame averaged 1,064 fans per contest throughout the season, good for 25th in the nation.
HIGH AS A KITE: A number of Irish players have registered career highs already this season. Some of the more notable performances are highlighted below.
Sophomore MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) turned in three career bests against #5 Pepperdine on Aug. 30, with 17 kills on 29 attempts for a .483 attack percentage (her best in a four-game match). Brewster also matched her career-high of six digs against Texas and set a new best in hitting percentage in a five-game match with a .476 mark vs. Houston. More recently, she had a career-best 13 blocks vs. Utah.
Sophomore MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) set career-high marks in kills twice already this season, most recently with 22 vs. Houston. She then had a career-high 45 attacks against Utah.
Senior OH Jessica Kinder (Fresno, Calif./Bullard H.S.) set a pair of personal bests against Houston, dishing out 10 assists and hitting .368, her best career mark in a five-game match. In addition, she had a career-high 28 digs vs. Valparaiso, in setting an Irish record for digs in a three-game match. Against South Carolina, she matched her personal best with four service aces.
Sophomore S Kelly Burrell (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier Preparatory School) had a career-best 12 digs vs. Texas and delivered three service aces vs. Utah after never having multiple aces previously in her career.
Senior OPP Katie Neff (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) had a career-high nine blocks vs. Utah and hit .375 against Indiana, her top career mark in a four-game match.
Sophomore OH Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.) had a big Shamrock Invitational, hitting career highs in each match. Against Indiana, she had five blocks. In the Utah match, she had 31 attack attempts and a .226 hitting percentage (her best in a five-game affair). After matching her career high in the final match of the Shamrock, Henican then set a new high mark with six assists vs. Purdue.
Junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) posted a career-best 24 kills vs. Valparaiso. Also in the Valpo match, junior DS/MB Kelly Corbett (Mountain View, Calif./St. Francis H.S.) had a career-high six digs and sophomore MB/OPP Carolyn Cooper (Houston, Texas/Lutheran South Academy) posted personal bests with six kills and two aces.
IRISH vs. WILDCATS: Villanova begins conference play after struggling in non-league action, posting a 3-9 mark to open the year. The Wildcats were swept in each of their initial four matches before posting 3-0 wins against Coppin State and Lafayette in the George Washington Tournament. Villanova then lost five straight before beating Maryland-Baltimore County in four games. The ‘Cats also dropped 3-2 decisions against Pennsylvania and Manhattan in their own tournament over the weekend. Notre Dame and Villanova have played no common opponents.
In 2002, the Wildcats were 18-16 (7-6 BIG EAST) and finished tied for sixth in the BIG EAST Conference. The record was an 11-match improvement on ‘Nova’s ’01 mark. The ‘Cats return 11 letterwinners, including six starters, from that squad. Among them are junior MB Kerri Sullivan, who led Villanova in kills and blocks a year ago and is doing so again in ’03. She ranks among the top five in the conference in both kills (4.10) and points (4.76). She also has the top hitting percentage on the team at .263. Junior MB Katie Lanting is the other main offensive threat, having hit 106 kills (2.65). The Wildcats run a 6-2, with junior DS/S Jennifer Badran-Grycan and senior S Jennifer Edwards handling the setting duties. The Wildcats are a strong defensive team, ranking fifth in the conference with 15.50 digs per game. Junior L Sam Hartwell leads the defensive effort with 109 (3.21) digs, while sophomore OH Celine Nguyen has 116 (2.97) and Badran-Grycan has 101 (2.73).
Allison Keeley is in her third season as the head coach of Villanova, having compiled a 25-33 (.431) record. She is in her ninth year as a head coach, having led the Southern Arkansas and Chaffey College (Calif.) programs for three years each.
The Irish and Wildcats will meet for the 12th time, with all but one meeting coming since Notre Dame joined the BIG EAST Conference in 1995. Notre Dame has won all 11 previous meetings, with eight coming in straight games. No team has played the Irish more times without a victory. There has been one five-game match, coming in the 1996 in the Joyce Center, with the Irish taking the final game 15-12. The teams have met twice in the BIG EAST Championship, including a 3-1, come-from-behind Irish victory in the 1997 league title match. Villanova is winless in each of its five previous trips to the Joyce Center.
In the 2002 meeting, Notre Dame won in four games in Villanova on Oct. 13. The Wildcats won the second game 30-28, despite hitting .062 in the frame. The Irish had four hitters notch a dozen or more kills, while also hitting better than .350. OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) led the way with 16 kills on .419 hitting, while MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) had 13 kills with a .423 attack percentage. Both MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) and OPP Katie Neff (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) had 12 kills, with Brewster posting a team-high .440 hitting mark. Kelbley led the team with seven blocks and Loomis registered a career-high 15 digs. Villanova was led by Sullivan, who had 13 kills on .273 hitting, while Lanting had 14 kills. Badran-Grycan had a double-double, with 26 assists and 11 digs.
IRISH vs. HOYAS: Georgetown will begin BIG EAST play with a 4-9 overall mark. The Hoyas will be at Syracuse on Friday before visiting the Joyce Center on Sunday afternoon. Georgetown opened the season with a four-game win against Fairfield before dropping the next six contests. The Hoyas then delivered wins over William & Mary and Coppin State in advancing to the final of the Georgetown Classic before losing to Wake Forest. Last week, Georgetown dropped a pair of matches before beating St. Peter’s on Saturday.
A year ago, Georgetown was 17-13 (7-6 BIG EAST) and tied for sixth in the BIG EAST Conference. Among the returnees from that team are junior MB Sara Albert, who led the league and was fifth in the nation in hitting percentage (.411) in ’02. She also led the Hoyas in blocks and was named all-BIG EAST honorable mention. Albert is again hitting very well this season, leading the conference with a .390 mark, having hit 154 kills (3.14). Sophomore OH Ashley Lancaster leads the Hoyas in kills with 156 (3.18), while sophomore OH Rachel Nelson has 135 (2.76). Junior S Margaret Vernon is sixth in the BIG EAST in assists (502/10.24), while junior OH Julie Grauert is ninth in digs (163/3.33). Nelson also has 116 digs (2.37).
Li Liu is in her fifth season as the Georgetown head coach, having compiled a 78-40 (.661) record.
The Irish and Hoyas will meet for the 14th time, with all but two meetings coming since Notre Dame joined the league in 1995. Georgetown’s only win was a three-game victory in the 1999 BIG EAST title match, marking the only Irish loss in conference tournament play. Six of the previous meetings have been 3-0 Notre Dame wins. Twice the teams have played five games, with the Irish winning 3-2 in ’99 and in the 2001 BIG EAST final. Notre Dame is 4-0 against the Hoyas in the Joyce Center.
In 2002, the Irish won in straight games (30-26, 31-29, 30-21) on Oct. 12 in Washington, D.C. Notre Dame was led by MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.), who hit .611, with 13 kills and just two errors on 18 swings. OPP Katie Neff (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) also had 13 kills on .409 hitting. Georgetown hit just .078 and was led by Lauren Warner, who had 11 kills.
HEAD COACH Debbie Brown: Irish head coach Debbie Brown is in her 13th season at the helm of the Notre Dame program. She has led the Irish to a 308-104 (.747) mark, while holding a 425-187 (.694) overall record. Brown’s Notre Dame teams have earned 11 consecutive NCAA tournament berths, advancing to the regional finals in 1993 and the regionals in ’94, ’95, and ’97. An eight-time conference coach of the year (4 MCC, 3 BIG EAST, 1 Pac-10), she has coached four Irish players to All-America honors, while 20 have gained all-BIG EAST mention since 1995. The Irish also have claimed 11 regular-season conference titles (4 Midwestern Collegiate, 7 BIG EAST) and 11 league tournament crowns (4 MCC, 7 BIG EAST). The captain of the 1980 U.S. Olympic volleyball team after winning a pair of national championships and earning All-America honors twice playing at USC, Brown graduated from Arizona State in 1982 and coached her alma mater from 1983-88, helping the Sun Devils to five NCAA tournaments.
LOOMIS, KELBLEY FIRST TWO BIG EAST PLAYERS OF WEEK: 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. Kelbley followed teammate OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.), who was named the first conference player of the week of the season on Sept. 1.
In the Longhorn Classic, Kelbley slammed 30 kills, while making just five errors for a .446 attack percentage. In addition, she was in on a team-high 14 blocks. Against Houston, Kelbley registered a career-high 22 kills on .462 hitting to go along with eight blocks in helping the Irish to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory. She hit .412 vs. host Texas, while notching eight kills (with only one error) and six blocks.
Loomis led the Irish with 42 kills and 14 blocks in the opening weekend of play, while posting a .365 hitting percentage. Against #10 Arizona, she had 14 kills and only two errors for a .522 attack percentage. In the Eastern Washington match, she hit .412, registering 18 kills. Overall, she was responsible for 51 points.
The two-week stretch marked the first time since Nov. 5 & 12 of 2001 that Notre Dame grabbed the BIG EAST Player of the Week award in consecutive weeks, with Kristy Kreher and Kristen Kinder (Fresno, Calif./Bullard H.S.) earning shares of the award in back-to-back weeks. Since then, only one other school has accomplished the feat, with Pittsburgh’s Megan Miller copping player-of-the-week honors in consecutive weeks a year ago (Sept. 23 & 30).
ALL-TOURNAMENT TWOSOME: Irish junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) and sophomore MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) made a habit of earning all-tournament honors early this year. The pair was named to the Four Points Sheraton Classic all-tournament team in the opening weekend, helping Notre Dame to a 2-1 record highlighted by an upset of #10 Arizona. In the second weekend, Loomis and Kelbley were named to the Longhorn Classic all-tournament team, with the latter being named the event’s MVP.
In the first weekend, Loomis had 42 kills on .365 hitting and was in on 14 blocks. Kelbley slammed 39 kills on a .360 attack percentage. In the most recent tournament, Loomis had 29 kills with a .368 hitting percentage, while Kelbley hit 30 on .446 hitting to go along with 14 blocks.
IRISH DOMINATE SHAMROCK ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Three Notre Dame players earned all-tournament honors, which were based solely on the first two days of play, in the Shamrock Invitational. Sophomore MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) was named the event MVP after posting a career-high 13 blocks vs. Utah, while senior OPP Katie Neff (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) and senior OH Jessica Kinder (Fresno, Calif./Bullard H.S.) were named to the all-tournament team. Throughout the weekend, Brewster had 33 kills and 22 blocks (1.69), while accounting for a team-high 48.5 points. Neff registered 30 kills on .244 hitting, the top percentage on the team. She also had 14 blocks. Kinder led the Irish with 47 digs (3.62), while adding 17 kills, seven aces, five assists, and three blocks.
THE HARDER THEY FALL: Notre Dame’s season-opening 3-1 victory over #10 Arizona in the Four Points Sheraton Classic gave the Irish a top-10 upset in each of the last two seasons. On September 14, 2002, Notre Dame outlasted 10th-ranked Pepperdine in the championship match of the Golden Dome Invitational in the Joyce Center. The win over the Wildcats was the eighth in the program’s history over a top-10 opponent.
HAIL TO THE CHAMPIONS: Notre Dame’s championship in the Longhorn Classic marked the fourth consecutive season the Irish have come away with at least one in-season tournament title, but was the first for Notre Dame outside the Joyce Center since the 2000 Lady Seminole Classic. The Irish won the Shamrock Invitational in each of the last three seasons and also were victorious in the ’02 Golden Dome Invitational
KEEPING UP WITH ND VOLLEYBALL: For the fastest results of Notre Dame volleyball matches, call the Notre Dame Sports Hotline at (574) 631-3000 and choose #5 and #1. The hotline provides schedules and result information for varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the match recaps and weekly releases provided on the official athletic website at www.und.com. The hotline is the first medium updated with results of each Notre Dame volleyball match.
Once again, www.und.com will be the best place for in-depth coverage of Irish volleyball. Live scoring of all home matches, as well as live internet broadcasts of eight contests available to College Sports Pass subscribers supplement the regular match previews and recaps. All three Shamrock Invitational matches (Sept. 12-14), as well as both BIG EAST Championship contests (Nov. 22-23) and the conference tilts with Georgetown (Sept. 28), Virginia Tech (Nov. 7), and Miami (Nov. 9) will feature live broadcasts.
In addition, media members and fans may be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting sports information assistant Bo Rottenborn at Rottenborn.2@nd.edu. All requests for story ideas, interview access, match credentials, and further information on Irish volleyball should similarly be directed to Rottenborn. Credential and interview requests should be made at least 24 hours in advance.