Sept. 1, 2006
NOTRE DAME, IND.- The No. 21 Notre Dame’s volleyball team (2-0) after being down late in the third game by as much as five points, showed a lot of fight and determination in downing an upstart Valparaiso Crusaders (3-2) team by the scores 30-25, 27-30, 31-29, 30-22 on Friday evening in the Joyce Center on the opening day of the 12th edition of the Shamrock Invitational. The Fighting Irish were once again led by the freshman Christina Kaelin (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) who tallied 21 kills in the victory.
The third game of the match proved to be the turning point, as the Fighting Irish found themselves trailing by five at 23-28 after a ball handling error. The Crusaders had the ball and were serving with a big game victory within their grasp, when a Kaelin kill and a Justine Stremick (Langdon, N.D/Langdon Area) kill on back to back plays inched the Irish closer. After a Valparaiso timeout, Stremick kept the momentum in Notre Dame’s favor with another kill to bring the Irish to within two at 26-28. An attack error by the Crusaders brought the Irish to within a point. Valparaiso’s Sara Hughes followed with a kill to bring the game to a game point. Kaelin followed with another kill to give the Fighting Irish a chance. Another attack error by Valpo tied the game at 29, Stremick and junior Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Sports Performance) roofed the next two Valparaiso attempts to give the Irish the game and a lead in games won 2-1, as the crowd of 1,043 screaming fans were now being worked into a frenzy.
The Irish building on the momentum of the emotionally charge third game, took an early advantage on the Crusaders at 10-3 in the forth game, on consecutive ball handling errors. But Valparaiso would not go down without a fight and went on an 11-4 run, spearheaded by three kills from Allison Sears, to tie the game up at 14 all. The next seven points were back and forth until a kill from Stasiuk allowed the Irish to finally get some breathing room at 19-16. Sophomore Mallorie Croal (Villa, Ca./Golden West) registered a kill at 22-17 to open a five point advantage for Notre Dame. Freshman Megan Fesl’s (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) kill gave the Irish a 28-19 lead. Another Kaelin kill ended the match and gave Notre Dame a 30-22 victory in the forth game.
The first game saw the Irish take the early 10-3 lead on a Stremick kill. Valparaiso fought back to get the game to within five on a kill from Sears at 21-17. But two kills by Fesl ended the first game with the Fighting Irish escaping with a 30-25 victory.
The second game was back and forth from the beginning, a kill Stasiuk tied the contest up at 12 all. A kill from Sears gave the Crusaders the lead, only to see Kaelin registered three consecutive kills to give the Irish back the advantage at 18-15. Once again the Crusader had an answer as two service aces from Brittany Marks gave Valpo the lead for good and momentum at 27–26. Kills by Jessie Fox and Nicole Shultz on consecutive plays ended the second game and even the series up at a game a piece.
Kaelin had a strong performance in the victory with 21 kills and a .333 hitting percentage. Stasiuk also played well with a double-double, the 26th of her career and second this season, with 20 kills and 14 digs. Freshman setter Jamel Nicholas (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pine-Richland) led the teams in assists with a career-high 36 to go along with 10 digs. Senior libero Danielle Herndon (Plant City, Fla./Durant) paced the squad with 24 digs. Stremick had a solid performance with a team-best six blocks and nine kills. The Crusaders were led in defeat by Nicole Schultz’s 16 kills. Sara Hughes had a double-double with her 47 assists and 11 digs.
Earlier in the afternoon No. 6 Santa Clara defeated Valparaiso 3-0 by the scores 30-20, 30-13, 30-21. In the first game of the 12th edition of the Shamrock Invitational, No. 13 Missouri Tigers defeated Idaho in three games 30-23, 30-21, 30-26.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will next take the court on Saturday, September 2 with a 12:30 p.m. match against Idaho on the second day of the Shamrock Invitational. One of the marquee matches of the weekend of volleyball is the CSTV match between No. 13 Missouri and No. 21 Notre Dame at 7 p.m. The match will tape delayed and shown on CSTV on Sunday at 6 p.m.
— ND —