Notre Dame captured its first win over a ranked opponent this season by downing No. 22 Santa Clara on Sunday.

Notre Dame Pulls Out Win In Wire-To-Wire Battle Against No. 22 Santa Clara

Sept. 16, 2007

Final Stats
Box Score (PDF)
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SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Sophomore Serinity Phillips (Valley Center, Calif./Valley Center) matched a personal-best 18 kills – including nine in a decisive game four win – as the Notre Dame volleyball team slipped by No. 22 Santa Clara on Sunday afternoon.

The Irish took the match’s first game, then dropped the next two before mounting a comeback to win the last pair and wrap up the 3-2 (30-19, 15-30, 28-30, 31-19, 15-11) win in its final match of the Bronco Invitational at the Leavey Center.

“We showed a tremendous amount of heart today,” said Irish head coach Debbie Brown. “It really was a total team effort. We played a lot of different people and went with several different lineups. Everyone was called upon to step their game up, and they did so at different points throughout the match.”

The victory was the third for the Irish (4-6) on the season in five-match affairs, winning its first two before a 3-2 loss to No. 11 California just one day prior. It was also the team’s first win over a ranked opponent in five tries.

Notre Dame recorded its highest hitting percentage (.272) of the year in part to a career-day by freshman Kellie Sciacca (Monument, Colo./Lewis Palmer) and her 16 kills on a .625 clip.

Senior Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) earned a spot on the all-tournament team after recording her third double-double of the invite with 13 kills and 12 digs against the Broncos. Krista Kelley logged a match-high 25 kills for host Santa Clara (7-6).

Coming out of intermission, Notre Dame led by seven (12-5) but slowly started to give away its lead as Santa Clara eventually tied game three at 27-27. Kelley fired in a pair of kills to close the period and give the Broncos a 2-1 edge.

With its back against the ropes the Irish hit .395 and .526 in the next two games, respectively, as the offense came around to control the remainder of the match. Game four went back and forth as the squads traded leads four times and managed to tie the frame on 10 occasions, with the last coming at 28-28 before Santa Clara broke the ice and faced game point at 29-28. Stasiuk stepped up with a kill to tie it at 29-29 and consecutive Santa Clara attack errors gave ND the win.

Both team had 10 kills in the final game but the Irish did so on 19 attempts without an error. Notre Dame got kills from senior Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos), Phillips, and Sciacca during a 7-3 run to crack loose from a 8-8 tie.

“This tournament was a good experience for us,” added Brown. “We were pushed in every match that we played, and each one made us a better team. After starting out 0-2, you need to have strong character and a strong will to come out and get it done, and that’s what we were able to do.”

Notre Dame travels to Pittsburgh on Sept. 22 (Saturday) to open BIG EAST play with the Panthers in a match that will be televised on CSTV at 2:00 p.m. (ET). They will move on to play West Virginia on Sept. 23 before returning to the Joyce Center for a three-match homestand.

–ND–