October 6, 1998
EASING INTO THE EAST: The Irish (5-5 overall, 2-0 in the BIG EAST) won their first two BIG EAST conference matches last weekend with victories over Seton Hall (3-0) on Friday night and against Rutgers (3-1) on Sunday afternoon.
Notre Dame had little trouble with the Seton Hall Pirates until the third game when they fell behind 10-6. Senior captain Lindsay Treadwell (Austin, Texas), however, restored order in the Notre Dame lineup, as the Irish struck back with nine-straight points to win the game and the match at 15-10. The win was Notre Dame’s fourth-straight three-game victory over Seton Hall since the Irish joined the BIG EAST.
The Irish had a little more trouble beating Rutgers in the second match of the weekend at Joyce Center. After a 15-7 win in game one and a lopsided 15-1 victory in game two, the Scarlet Knights came back to win game three, 17-15. Luckily, Notre Dame regained its composure and regrouped to win game four, 15-7.
PERFECTION LASTS ONLY SO LONG: The game three loss to the Scarlet Knights signified the first time that the Irish had ever lost even a game to Rutgers since the two teams began playing each other in 1995. The Irish have never lost a single game to Seton Hall, Connecticut, Georgetown, Providence, St. John’s, Syracuse or West Virginia since joining the BIG EAST Conference in 1995. Notre Dame has lost only nine of the 135 total games from 1995-98 against conference opponents.
THE STREAK STANDS: One streak that still stands for the Irish is the 78-game win streak against conference opponents. The streak dates back to 1991 and now includes the final 37 matches in the Midwest Collegiate Conference and 41 in the BIG EAST. The streak is third in women’s collegiate volleyball history behind Western Michigan’s 98 matches (1982-89) and Arkansas State’s 97-match win streak in the old AIAW (1976-81), however, it is second only to Western Michigan in the official NCAA record books.
Setter – Denise Boylan, So. (Lisle, Ill.)
Middle Blocker – Lindsay Treadwell, Sr. (Austin, Texas)
Middle Blocker – Mary Leffers, Jr. (Tampa, Fla.)
Outside hitter – Marcie Bomhack, Fr. (Waukesha, Wis.)
Outside hitter -Christi Girton, So. (Muncie, Ind.)
Opposite – Kristy Kreher, Fr. (Birmingham, Mich.)
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Beginning tonight against Illinois State, the Irish will once again be away from Joyce Center for the next seven matches or almost three weeks until the home match against Providence, October 23. So far this season, the Irish are 2-4 on the road.
FIVE IS NORMAL: If history repeats itself, the Notre Dame-Illinois State match tonight will go to five-games. Of the 10-game all-time series between the two schools (which is knotted at 5-5), the last six matches have all gone to five-games. A year ago, the Irish came out on top with a 15-17, 15-7, 11-15, 16-14 and 15-9 victory at the Joyce Center in 1997.
SCOUTING THE REDBIRDS: Illinois State is currently 10-3 overall and 7-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Redbirds, under head coach Julie Morgan, are led offensively by Michelle Kutcher who is averaging 4.54 kills per game average. Running the Redbird offense will be setter Marisa Brickley who could become the MVC’s Career Assist Leader in the match against the Irish. Brickley, who is averaging 13.87 assists/game, is just 53 assists short of the current MVC assist leader Kelly Hanson of Drake. Brickley also leads the team in digs (129), while Kendra Haselhorst leads the team in total blocks (58) and service aces (16).
ON THE AIRWAVES: The Notre Dame-Illinois State game will be broadcast on WJBC Radio with Craig Bertsche and Julie Paska making the call from Normal, Ill. The Redbird arena should also be rocking for the game. Illinois State is averaging 2,543 people per match, which is the third highest in the country.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: Under first-year head coach Kelli Myers, Connecticut is 10-9 overall, with two BIG EAST Conference wins last weekend against West Virginia and Pittsburgh. The Huskies are led by senior outside hitter Annette Rynn and senior opposite Jenelle Koester, who both have over 270 kills apiece this season. Koester also does it for UCONN defensively with a team-leading 301 digs, while middle blocker Chanice Harris leads the Huskies with 74 total blocks. UCONN lost earlier this season to New Hampshire (2-3), who the Irish beat at Michigan State, 3-1.
Peeping Peters: For the first time, former Notre Dame star Christy Peters will be on the opposing side’s bench when UCONN and Notre Dame face-off on October 9. After one year at Northwestern as an assistant coach, Peters took the Connecticut assistant’s job this season. Peters played at Notre Dame and under head coach Debbie Brown from 1991-1994 and was a third-team All-American from 1993-94. In her four-year career, Peters set and still holds records for career kills (1,683), matches with team-high kills (70), total hitting attempts (4,471), 20-plus kills matches (19), double-doubles (64), dig average (3.72) and digs (1640).
The Solana Beach native also still owns 10 single-season records. Along with Brown, Peters will be reunited with current Irish assistant coaches Steve Hendricks, who was in his first year as a coach with the Irish in 1994, and Jessica Fiebelkorn-Kerr, who played with Peters from 1991-92.
SCOUTING THE STAGS: This is the first-ever meeting between the Irish and the Fairfield University Stags. Under fifth-year head coach Todd Kress, the Stags are out to a 16-1 record in 1998. There only loss has come against Texas-El Paso, but have scored wins of Seton Hall and future Notre Dame BIG EAST opponent St. John’s. Fairfield boasts five players with more than 125 kills so far this season. A year ago, the Stags advance to the first round of the NCAA playoff, but fell in three games to Ohio St. to complete a 25-10 season.
USA Today/AVCATop 25 PollAs of Oct. 6, 1998
R School Prev. Rank 1. Long Beach State (14-0) 2 2. Penn St. (14-0) 1 3. Nebraska (13-0) 3 4. UCSB (14-1) 4 5. BYU (11-1) 5 6. Wisconsin (14-1) 6 7. Stanford (10-2) 7 8. USC (9-3) 8 9. Florida (13-2) 910. Hawai'i (10-1) 1011. Pacific (10-3) 1112. Colorado (10-1) 1213. Texas (10-2) 1314. LMU (11-3) 1415. Arkansas (11-2) 1516. Texas A&M (10-2) 1617. USD (12-2) 1718. Arizona (11-1) 1919. Illinois (10-4) 2020. Ohio State (8-5) 1821. Louisville (12-2) 2322. Minnesota (12-3) 2223. Michigan State (9-2) 2124. Indiana (10-3) NR25. Kansas State (8-5) 25
Others: Texas Tech, North Carolina, Florida State, UNLV, South Carolina, Pepperdine, Washington State, Colorado State, Illinois State, Michigan, San Jose State, Fresno State, NOTRE DAME, Utah, Eastern Michigan, Miami (Ohio), Virginia, Arizona State, Cal Poly, Auburn and UCLA.
Volleyball Magazine Top 20 PollAs of Oct. 5, 1998
R School Prev. Rank 1. Long Beach St. (14-0) 1 2. Penn State (14-0) 2 3. Nebraska (13-0) 4 4. UCSB (14-1) 3 5. Stanford (10-2) 5 6. Wisconsin (14-1) 6 7. Hawai'i (10-1) 8 8. Texas (10-2) 7 9. Colorado (10-1) 1010. Pacific (10-3) 911. BYU (11-1) 1112. Florida (13-2) 1213. USC (9-3) 1314. Arizona (13-1) 1515. LMU (11-3) 1416. Arkansas (11-2) 1617. Minnesota (12-3) 1718. Illinois (10-4) 1819. Texas A&M (10-2) 1920. Louisville (12-2) NR
National Attendance AveragesAs of Oct. 5, 1998
1. Hawai'i 6,462 2. Nebraska 3,085 3. Illinois St. 2,543 4. Florida 2,354 5. Pacific 2,200 6. Long Beach St. 2,161 7. Wisconsin 1,984 8. Stanford 1,920 9. Penn State 1,68510. Kansas State 1,604
BIG EAST & THE IRISH NOTES: In the first weekend of conference play, there are three other teams with 2-0 records (Georgetown, Villanova and Connecticut) other than Notre Dame…overall, every team but Providence has at least an even overall record…both Notre Dame and Pittsburgh have played four matches against teams in this week’s USA Today/AVCA poll…Of the 10 remaining schools, only four have played against a currently ranked team.
BIG STATS: With just two conference matches played, Notre Dame junior Mary Leffers (Tampa, Fla.), who made her first two starts of the season against Seton Hall and Rutgers, leads the league in both conference hitting percentage (.462) and blocking (2.00/game). Freshman Kristy Kreher (Birmingham, Mich.), who is hitting .419 in conference play, is second in hitting, while Denise Boylan (Lisle, Ill.) is fourth in assists with a 12.00 average. Team-wise, the Irish are first in team hitting percentage (.311) and fourth in team assists (14.00/g).
In all matches this season, senior Lindsay Treadwell is ranked third among conference teams in hitting percentage (.366), while sophomore Jo Jameyson (Alvin, Texas) leads the league with a 1.38 blocks/game average. Boylan ranks third in assists per game with 10.47. The Irish are fifth in team hitting percentage and first in team blocking.
THE PERSONAL RECORD BOOKS: Senior Lindsay Treadwell set a personal-best hitting percentage record in a three-game match with a .688 effort against Seton Hall. Treadwell had 11 kills on 16 attempts with no errors. Junior Mary Leffers also hit a career best .565 in a four-game match against Rutgers when she had 14 kills on 23 attempts. Freshman Kristy Kreher, meanwhile, had a career afternoon against Rutgers, positing a career-high for kills with 13, attack attempts with 26 and assists with five. Kreher also hit a career best .600 on Friday.
THE CAREER RECORD BOOKS: With her performance so far this season, Lindsay Treadwell has increased her school-leading career hitting percentage to .310, up .012 from last season…Treadwell also recorded her 19th career double-double (kills/digs) with a 11 kill, 10 dig effort versus Seton Hall…Sophomore Denise Boylan’s 46 assists in the Rutgers match tied her with Shannon Tuttle in the career-assist category with 1727 to move into a tie for four place…Boylan is also second all-time with a 11.91 career assist average …Mary Leffers has also increased her career-hitting percentage from .293 to .295..Leffers has moved to seventh on the career total block list with 320..
JUST PEACHY: Notre Dame Coach Debbie Brown is set to host the Breast Cancer Awareness Luncheon on Wednesday, October 7 starting at noon in the Continuing Education Dining Area near the Morris Inn. Sponsored by RecSports, the Alumni Association, IRISHealth and the Catherine Peachey Foundation, Inc., the topic for the luncheon is new approaches to treating cancer.
HEAD COACH DEBBIE BROWN: Brown, in her eighth season at Notre Dame, currently has a 195-63 record at Notre Dame and a 312-146 career record. Brown’s head coaching career also includes a six-year stay at her alma mater, Arizona State (1983-88). If Notre Dame wins its next four matches, Brown could get her 200th win as coach of the Irish against Duke on October 17.
AVCA/Sagarin
Division I Power Rating
The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and Jeff Sagarin have teamed up to compile a division I power rating for 302 college women’s volleyball teams. Sagarin’s system takes into account things like wins, losses, points scored, points allowed, difficulty of schedule and home court advantage.
Sagarin (Bloomington, Ind.) also does ratings systems for college basketball and football among other sports.
The ratings are available at www.kiva.net/jsagarin/sports/vballskd.htm or by a link on the AVCA’s website www.avca.org.
8/30 – Notre Dame (#19)
9/16 – Notre Dame (#52)
9/20 – Notre Dame (#72)
9/27 – Notre Dame (#70)
BIG EAST CONFERENCE
(As of October 5, 1998)
Team BIG EASTGeorgetown (14-3) 2-0Villanova(9-7) 2-0 Connecticut (10-9) 2-0NOTRE DAME (5-5) 2-0Pittsburgh (10-6) 1-1West Virginia (8-6) 1-1Rutgers (8-8) 1-1Seton Hall (8-8) 1-1Syracuse (10-5) 0-2Boston College (8-7) 0-2St. John's (10-10) 0-2Providence (8-9) 0-2
BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Week 1:
Lindsay Treadwell (ND)
Week 2:
Annette Ryan (UCONN) and Melissa Tytko (Georgetown)
Week 3:
Kerri Potts (Syracuse)
Week 4:
Marcia Thiesen (Pittsburgh) and Megan O’Brien (Villanova)
Week 5:
Annette Ryan (Connecticut)
BIG EAST ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Week 1:
Noreen Carroll (Syracuse)
Week 2:
Stasha Levi (St. John’s)
Week 3:
Yulia Vtyurina (Georgetown)
Week 4:
Stasha Levi (St. John’s)
Week 5:
Yulia Vtyurina (Georgetown)