Oct. 29, 2006
Louisville, Ky. The Notre Dame volleyball team (13-10, 7-3 BIG EAST) were defeated by BIG EAST rival Louisville (16-6, 9-1 BIG EAST) on Sunday, Oct. 29 at the Cardinal Arena in Louisville. The game scores went 14-30, 22-30, 19-30 . This is the longest Notre Dame losing streak of the season and the longest since Sept 3-7, 2004 when the Irish also went through a three match skid.
Mallorie Croal (Villa Park, Calif./Mater Dei) led the Irish attack with 10 kills, eight digs and two blocks. The eight digs were also a team-best effot. Justine Stremick (Langdon, N.D./Langdon Area) had 10 kills. Christina Kaelin (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) totaled six kills. Freshman Kim Kristoff (Carmel, Ind./Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) had four kills and a block. The Irish setter Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos) led the team with 29 assists. Danielle Herndon (Plant City, Fla./Durant) added eight digs. For the match, the Irish were out hit by Louisville.476 to .169.
It was a slow Irish start in the first game as Louisville jumped out to 4-0 lead behind the some strong serving. The Cardinals’ lead grew to seven, 10-3, on an Irish attack error. A Notre Dame timeout momentarily slowed down the Cardinals as back-to-back kills from Megan Fesl (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) and Stremick brought the Irish within six. A service ace from Tarutis kept the Irish within six at 14-8. The lead jumped back up to eight on a kill from Rui Liu at 18-10. The Cardinals now in the mist of an 10-3 run took and 13 point advantage on a receiving error from Notre Dame at 24-11. The Irish went on a 2-0 run, only to see the Cardinals finish the game on a 6-1 run to take the first game 30-14. The U of L out hit the Irish .556 to .000 in the first game.
A kill from Louisville native Kaelin briefly gave Notre Dame the lead in the second game at 2-1, but Louisville would quickly grab the lead and momentum again. The Louisville lead hit three on a huge kill from Tatyana Kolesnikova at 6-3. Back-to-back point from the Irish allowed them to close within two only to again find Louisville rally and quick get the lead back up to four. A Kaelin kill brought the Irish within three at 12-9. The lead stayed at four, 15-11, going into the first media timeout. The brief stoppage of play did not slow down the Cardinal attack, as they extended the lead to six on the solo block from Lecia Brown 18-12. A Kristoff kill, after a long rally, brought the Irish within four at 20-16. A Stremick pounding inched the Irish within three at 21-18. The Cardinals, after a timeout, went on a 9-4 run to take the second game 30-22.
The early going of the third game was tight, as a Tarutis kill tied the game up at three all. A Kaelin kill briefly gave Notre Dame the lead at 5-4, only to see the Cardinals rally a take a 7-6 lead on a Notre Dame service error. A Croal zinger gave the Irish the lead at 8-7, as Notre Dame was fighting to stay alive in the game and match. A 4-1 Louisville run gave them an 11-9 lead. The lead stayed around the two point barrier until Kolesnikova service ace put the Cardinals up three at 15-12. The Cardinal advantage doubled to six on a block assist from Brown and Justine Landi at 18-12. The Cardinals offense was clicking as their lead reach eight, 24-16, on a Brown block. U of L closed the third game on a 6-2 run to win the third game and the match 30-18.
Next, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will travel to East Coast again and take on Georgetown on Nov. 3 at 8 p.m. before traveling to South Florida on Nov. 5 at 2 p.m.