Sept. 3, 2006
NOTRE DAME, IND.- The No. 21 Notre Dame volleyball team (3-2) playing in its fourth match in three days and second consecutive match against a ranked opponent fell in three games to No. 6 Santa Clara (5-0) on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 3 at the Joyce Center by the scores of 30-18, 30-23, 30-23.
The first game was tightly contested in the beginning, as a Mallorie Croal (Villa Park, Calif./Mater Dei) kill tied the game up at six all. But a 5-0 run keyed by a pair of kills from Brittany Lowe allowed the Broncos to gain control of the first game. From that point on, the Irish were attempting to play catch up and losing ground. A kill from Anna Cmaylo extended the advantage to 10 at 19-9. An 8-4 run by the Irish started to make things interesting but the lead proved to be too much to over come, as the Broncos closed on a 7-1 run to take the first game.
In the second game a kill from sophomore Justine Stremick (Langdon, N.D./Langdon) allowed the Irish to get within two at 12-10. A pair of consecutive kills from freshman Serinity Phillips (Valley Center, Calif./Valley Center) both off the dish from junior Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) closed the gap to one at 16-15. But the Broncos had an answer and went on a 14-7 run, aided by six Notre Dame errors, to end the second game.
The third game saw the Irish put up a strong fight and stayed within three on the Stasiuk kill at 21-18 but again the Broncos behind Cmaylo two kills had the answer. A kill by Lindsy Evans finished the game and match off in favor of SCU.
The three-game loss marked the first time the Irish have lost in less than five-games in the regular season in exactly two years. The Fighting Irish were last swept during the regular season by then No. 2 Nebraska also at the Joyce Center on Sept. 3, 2004. That season also marked the last time the Fighting Irish fell in consecutive matches. Those two losses came at the hands of South Carolina and Michigan.
Croal led the Irish attackers with eight kills. Freshman Jamel Nicholas (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) led the team in assists, for the fourth consecutive match, with 14.
The third game marked the beginning of the Irish career of freshman Colleen Nolan (Vernon Hills, Ill./Stevenson) who saw her first court time of the season. She is the last of the Notre Dame’s seven freshmen to earn playing time this season.
Santa Clara offensive attack was evenly balanced with three Broncos in double figures in kills. SCU’s Lowe, Kim McGiven and Annalisa Murtatore all had 14 kills with McGiven also chipping in 11 digs in the victory.
Next, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will start a long road trip that will extend for much of the next month. Next weekend the Irish travel to participate in the UNI Invitational from Sept. 8-9. The Invitational will be one of two road tournaments Notre Dame was invited to participate in this season, the other is the Sun Devil Volleyball Classic the following weekend. Notre Dame will begin tournament play on Friday, Sept. 8 with a match against Alabama starting at 6 p.m. locally.