Oct. 19, 2006
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THIS WEEK: The Irish (12-7, 6-0 BIG EAST) returns home for an important two-match conference home stand. The Irish will take on Connecticut (13-8, 2-4 BIG EAST) in a pre-pep rally match starting at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 20. Then the Irish will take on St. John’s (21-1, 6-0 BIG EAST) on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 2 p.m. The Sunday match will be television match taped delayed and shown locally by Comcast Local. The match up will also be a battle between the two front-runners in the BIG EAST Conference.
QUICK HITS ABOUT THE IRISH: Below are some highlights of the note package. For more details on any topic, consult the remainder of the release.
* The Fighting Irish, after a win over DePaul, have started their BIG EAST Conference schedule 6-0 for the eighth consecutive season.
* The Irish win over DePaul was their fourth in a row over the Blue Demons.
* Serinity Phillips and Christina Kaelin led the attack against DePaul with each tallying nine kills. Both also hit well. Phillips’ hitting percentage was .425 while Kaelin hit .667 in the three game match.
* Kaelin’s hitting percentage of .667 was the highest for an Irish player since Adrianna Stasiuk hit .737 against Rutgers (9/23) this year
* DePaul’s .057 hitting percentage and 42 total points were low marks for a Notre Dame opponent this season.
* The win over DePaul was Notre Dame’s first on television this season.
* Sophomore Mallorie Croal led the team with 11 kills in the loss against No. 16 Hawai’i. This was the third time Croal led the team in kills this season.
* The loss snapped Notre Dame’s six match winning streak.
* The Irish out blocked the taller Rainbow Wahine 12 to seven in the first match.
* In the second match against No. 16 Hawai’i, sophomore Justine Stremick led the offensive and defensive attack. She tied a career-high with 14 kills and also tallied seven blocks.
* Adrianna Stasiuk tallied her 13th double of the season in the second match against Hawai’i.
* The two losses were the third and the fourth to ranked opponents this season.
* The loss was also Notre Dame’s first in four game-set this season.
* Adrianna Stasiuk has solid career number against both Irish opponents this week with a career kills average of 3.29 against Connecticut and 3.86 against St. John’s.
* Notre Dame and Debbie Brown are 15-1 against Connecticut with the only loss coming in a five-gamer in 1998.
* The Irish are a perfect 11-0 against St. John’s since joining the BIG EAST in 1995. St. John’s has only won two games from Notre Dame during that time in those 11 matches.
* Adrianna Stasiuk has been on a mission over the last five weeks in leading the Irish to an 8-3 record, she has tallied eight double-doubles and led the team in kills six times over the last five weeks.
* Five Notre Dame volleyball players have played in all 58 games this season (Adrianna Stasiuk, Justine Stremick, Ashley Tarutis, Jamel Nicholas and Danielle Herndon). Other trends include three players that have started all 19 matches (Stasiuk, Fesl and Herndon) and that Notre Dame has used eight different lineups this season but has had the same seven starters for eight of the last nine matches.
* A few Notre Dame volleyball players are quickly moving up the career and season charts. Junior Adrianna Stasiuk with her 17 double digit digs matches this season now has 61 in her career, which is tied for fourth all-time in the double figure dig mark. She also has totaled 37 double-doubles, which is third all-time on that list.
* Ashley Tarutis with her 442 assists this season now has 3,165 assists in her career, which is fourth all-time having just passed Taryn Collins.
* Freshman Christina Kaelin with five 20+ kill matches this year is just out of the top-10 all-time for matches with 20+ kills for the Irish.
* Danielle Herndon is quickly moving up the career digs list. She now has 1,048 digs in her career, which is good for seventh all-time. Herndon’s 16 times leading the team in digs this season is tied for fifth in a single season at Notre Dame with Lindsay Treadwell (1998).
* Adrianna Stasiuk has recorded 13 double-doubles in the first 19 matches.
* The Irish continue to alternate their two setters this season with both Ashley Tarutis and Jamel Nicholas earning playing time. Each setter has started and lead the team in assists in at least nine matches this season.
* No individual Notre Dame player is ranked among the top-10 in the BIG EAST in assists, yet the Irish thanks to both setters, Jamel Nicholas and Ashley Tarutis, are second in the conference in assists (14.49).
* Justine Stremick currently is fifth in the conference in blocks per game with an average of 1.49. Her 20 solo blocks lead the conference.
* Justine Stremick’s 101 total blocks this year are more than her next two teammates combined.
* Danielle Herndon is second in the BIG EAST with her average of 5.25 digs per game. The Irish lead the BIG EAST with an average of 17.41 digs per game.
* Adrianna Stasiuk is eighth in the league with an average of 0.41 service aces per game.
* The Irish are second in the conference in kills per game 15.76, despite not having a single individual ranked among the top-10.
* In BIG EAST play only the Irish lead in league in hitting percentage (.296) and service aces per game (2.30) while placing second in opponents hitting percentage (.142) and kills (16.80).
* Since the start of conference play several of Notre Dame’s young players have turned the corner. Sophomore Justine Stremick is fifth in hitting percentage (.385) in the six league matches. Freshman Kim Kristoff is eighth in hitting percentage (.360), while fellow rookie Jamel Nicholas is averaging 0.55 service aces a game. Junior Adrianna Stasiuk is third in the league with an average of 0.60 service aces per game.
* Freshman Serinity Phillips was the latest Notre Dame volleyball player to take home a weekly BIG EAST award. She was named the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week on Oct. 9 after posting 20 kills and 11 blocks against Marquette and Syracuse.
* With the victory over Seton Hall on Saturday, Sept. 30, head coach Debbie Brown became only the 28th NCAA volleyball coach to reach the 500-win milestone. Her record now stands at 503-212 in her 22 years as collegiate head coach at Arizona State and Notre Dame.
* Notre Dame has high hopes for the upcoming 2006 campaign as the squad returns three starters and seven monogram winners.
* Joining the strong nucleus this season is one the highest ranked freshman classes in the country (third by Volleyball Magazine and fifth by PrepVolleyball.com).
* Head Coach Debbie Brown returns for her 16th season at the helm of volleyball program and signed a new contract extension in the off-season.
* Two additions to the coaching staff this season are former Virginia Tech head coach Greg Smith and Kevin Lane.
* Notre Dame takes on nine teams in 10 matches this season that were participants in the 2005 NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
* Notre Dame has four matches on home football weekends this season two of them were last weekend, Oct. 6-8 and two will be later in the season including a television match against St. John’s this weekend.
* Danielle Herndon is the lone senior on the team, the first time since 1983 that the Notre Dame roster will only have one senior.
* Over the last 16 years Notre Dame is an impressive 186-31 (.856) at the Joyce Center.
* The Fighting Irish have compiled an overall record of 126-7 (.945) including a record of 70-1 at the Joyce Center during regular season play against BIG EAST competition since joining the conference in 1995.
* This is the 35th anniversary of women’s athletics at Notre Dame, in celebration the volleyball team and the female athletic teams at Notre Dame will wear special patches on their uniforms this season. There will also be a special celebration in April. For more information see the info located toward the back of this notes package.
SCOUTING CONNECTICUT: The Huskies are coming in on a two-match losing streak having dropped a match to Central Connecticut and St. John’s in the last week … Freshman outside hitter Kate Seabaugh leads the offensive attack with 205 kills … Junior middle blocker Gina Heiderman is second on the team in kills (158). Bridget Denson-Dorman has spend much of the season ranking among both the BIG EAST leaders and the national leaders in assists (12.39 a game) … Head Coach Holly Strauss is in her second year at the helm of Connecticut … Their is a Midwest flavor to the Connecticut roster with eight players arriving from center of the country.
SERIES VS. CONNECTICUT: ND and Connecticut will meet for the 17th time, with every contest coming since the Irish became a BIG EAST member in 1995 … ND leads the series 15-1, including 12 straight wins … at the Joyce Center, Notre Dame is 6-0 all-time against UConn … ND won 30-20, 30-23, 30-23 last year in Storrs to improve their record to 5-1 with four straight victories at Connecticut … the teams have played three five-game affairs, with Connecticut gaining its only victory over ND in ’98 (16-14 in the fifth after being down 2-1) in Storrs … that was ND’s first loss to a BIG EAST school since becoming a league member, ending a 41-match winning streak (35 reg. season, 6 tournament.) … In the semis of that year’s BIG EAST Championship Connecticut won the first two games before Notre Dame won three straight by 15-13 scores to start an 11-match winning streak against UConn … the teams met five consecutive years (’98-’02) in the league tournament. … ND leads 47-9 in games won … five of the last seven matches – have been 3-1 ND wins … in ’00, Christi Girton had 31 kills, the third-highest total ever by an Irish player and the last 30-kill match for ND.
SCOUTING ST. JOHN’S: The Red Storm have been one of the pleasant surprises in collegiate volleyball with a record of 21-1 and a ranking of #30 in the Rich Kern poll … SJU is currently tied with Notre Dame as the early front runners in the BIG EAST Conference … Saint John’s has a three person attack that has proven to be efficient and effective this season … Patti Hardimon leads the team with 249 kills (3.66 per game) … She is also second on the team in digs with 226 … sophomore Hui Ping Huang is averaging 3.97 kills per game from her middle blocking position and is second on the team with 52 blocks … senior Caitlin Rimgalia has also been impressive with 246 kills … both setters Wioleta Leszczynska (10.94 assists per game) and Casie Brooks (5.21 assists per game) have been effective … Joanna Perisco-Smith is now in her 13th season with St. John’s.
SERIES VS. ST. JOHN’S: The Irish and Red Storm will meet for the 12th time, once per season since Notre Dame became a member of the BIG EAST Conference in 1995 … the Irish have won each of the previous 11 matches, taking 33 of 35 games … in 2005, Notre Dame prevailed 28-30, 30-26, 30-28, 30-27 in Carnasecca Arena … at the Joyce Center, ND is 6-0 and have won 18 of 19 games… the schools first met in ’95, with the Irish winning 15-0, 15-6, 15-4 to start a streak of 22 consecutive game victories over SJU … the Red Storm’s lone game win previous to last year’s was a 30-25 triumph in the second game in ’02 in the Joyce Center … New York has produced five Irish volleyball players, making it one of just six states to do so … in the 1998 match, Notre Dame finished with 20 blocks, which still stands as the most-ever for the Irish in a three-game contest … the ’01 affair saw the Irish take the first game 30-8, which is the largest margin of victory for Notre Dame in a game in school history … 2005’s 37-point Irish triumph is tied for the third-largest margin of victory since the 30-point-game format was adopted.
A STRONG START TO THE CONFERENCE SEASON: The Fighting Irish continued their 2006 conference-winning streak with a three-game victory over DePaul on Friday, Oct. 13 at the Joyce Center. This was the eighth year in a row the Irish have won their first six conference matches to start the season.
A FAMILIAR TREND: The Irish with a win over DePaul have now won four in a row over the Blue Demons including both matches since the Blue Demons returned to the BIG EAST.
NOTES FROM THE DEPAUL MATCH: Notre Dame had several noteworthy performances from the Blue Demons match.
* Freshman Serinity Phillips and Christina Kaelin led the offensive attack with nine kills each. This was only the second time all season that no Notre Dame player reached double figures in kills.
* Both Phillips (.429) and Kaelin (.667) had outstanding hitting percentages.
* Kaelin’s hitting percentage of .667 was the highest for a Notre Dame player that averaged at least four attacks per game since Adrianna Stasiuk hit .737 against Rutgers (9/23).
* Adrianna Stasiuk led the team with 11 digs. It was only the third time this season that someone other than senior Danielle Herndon led the team in digs.
* Notre Dame out hit DePaul .327 to .057.
* DePaul’s .057 hitting percentage and 42 combined points were the lowest for a Notre Dame opponent this season.
* This was Notre Dame’s sixth victory in a row and sixth conference win of the season. The six consecutive wins was a high water mark for the Irish.
* The win was Notre Dame’s first on television in three tries this season.
NOTES FROM THE FIRST HAWAI’I MATCH: Notre Dame had several noteworthy performances from the first Hawai’i match.
* Sophomore Mallorie Croal for the third time this season led the team in kills with 11.
* Fellow sophomore Justine Stremick also played well with eight kills and a hitting percentage of .571.
* Sophomore Madison Clark picked up the first service ace of her career in the third game.
* The Irish out blocked the taller Rainbow Wahine 12-7.
* The loss snapped the Irish six match-winning streak.
* Three of the Notre Dame’s six losses have been in three games.
NOTES FROM THE SECOND HAWAI’I MATCH: Notre Dame had several noteworthy performances from the second Hawai’i match.
* Sophomore Justine Stremick led the offensive attack and defensive attack with a team leading 14 kills and seven blocks. This was the first time that Stremick has led the team in kills as she tied her career-high. She also hit .636 for the match.
* Adrianna Stasiuk recorded her 13th double-double of the season with 12 kills and 14 digs.
* Sophomore Mallorie Croal reached double figures in kills with 11 for the second consecutive match.
* Jamel Nicholas led the team with 26 assists while junior Ashley Tarutis tallied 23 helpers. This was the fourth time this season and the third time in the last five matches that the two have gone over the 20-assist mark in the same match.
* The loss dropped Notre Dame to 0-4 against ranked opponents this season.
* This was also the first time that the Irish have lost a four gamer this season.
* The Irish are now 1-4 in television matches this season.
AGAINST THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS:
* Junior Adrianna Stasiuk has excelled against the Huskies in her career, with a career average of 3.29 kills per game in the two matches she has played against them.
* Setter Ashley Tarutis is averaging 12.29 assists per game in her career against Connecticut as well as 2.43 digs per game.
* Sophomore Mallorie Croal has also played well against the Huskies with two kills per game and she has yet to make an error in 12 attempts against UConn.
* Adrianna Stasiuk has also played well against St. John’s with an average of 3.86 kills per game and her average of 4.29 points per game.
* Ashley Tarutis averages 12.86 assists per game against the Red Storm in her career.
* Debbie Brown and the Irish are 15-1 overall against Connecticut and she and Notre Dame have yet to lose a match to St. John’s in 11 attempts.
A WOMAN ON A MISSION: Over the last five weeks Adrianna Stasiuk has been taking her game to another level. The Irish have gone 8-3 over the last five weeks with the junior leading the way. In those 11 matches Stasiuk had tallied eight double-doubles while leading the team in kills six times. Her 131 kills (3.54 per game) and 4.58 points per game are team best efforts in both categories and she is second on the squad in digs with 137 (3.70 per game). She leads the team with 21 service aces and tied for third on the team in assists.
THE IRON GROUP: Five Fighting Irish players have taken the court in all 68 games this season (Adrianna Stasiuk, Justine Stremick, Ashley Tarutis, Jamel Nicholas and Danielle Herndon). This group of five can be dubbed the Iron Women for taking the court in every game played this season.
THEY WILL BE ON THE COURT: With so many young players on the team this season, eight different lineups have being used, but three players have stayed consistent and started all 19 matches this season in Adrianna Stasiuk, Megan Fesl and Danielle Herndon.
A FORMULA THAT WORKS: The Irish after numerous lineups have started the same group of seven players (Serinity Phillips, Kim Kristoff, Ashley Tarutis, Megan Fesl, Adrianna Stasiuk, Justine Stremick and libero Danielle Herndon) in eight of the last nine matches. The group is 5-3 overall.
A WEEKLY WATCH: These are the individual player both season and career stats to be on the lookout for this week.
* Junior Adrianna Stasiuk with her 17 double figure digs matches this season now has 61 in her career, which is fourth all-time. Her 13 double-doubles this season move her to into third with 37 only five behind Jessica Fiebelkorn for second.
* Junior Ashley Tarutis with 442 assists this season now has 3,165 assists in her career, which is fourth on the Notre Dame assist list having just passed Taryn Collins for fourth place.
* Freshman Christina Kaelin with five 20+-kill matches this season is creeping up on the top-ten all-time at Notre Dame for 20+ kill matches in a career. Three former Notre Dame players (Christi Girton, Kathy Cunningham and Mary Kay Waller) hold the career mark of six 20+-kill matches.
* Senior Danielle Herndon is quickly moving up the Notre Dame digs list. She now has 1,048 career digs, which is good for seventh on the list. Herndon’s 16 times leading the team in digs this season is tied for fifth for Notre Dame with Lindsay Treadwell (1998) in a single season.
GETTING HER GROOVE BACK: Junior Ashley Tarutis has led the team in assists in 74 of the last 83 matches.
DOUBLING UP: Junior Adrianna Stasiuk has had a double-double in kills and digs in 13 of the first 19 matches this season.
AN INTERESTING SITUATION: Notre Dame has switched up their two-setters junior Ashley Tarutis and Jamel Nicholas through the first 19 matches, where each one of them has led the team in assists in at nine matches this season. Due in part to the two-setter approach no individual setter is ranked among the top-10 in the BIG EAST, but Notre Dame as a team is second (14.49) in the conference in assists.
SENDING THEM BACK: Sophomore Justine Stremick is fifth in the conference with her average of 1.49 blocks per game. Her 20 solo blocks are the most in the BIG EAST.
A POINT SAVER: Senior Danielle Herndon is second in the conference in digs per game at 5.25. Herndon and the Irish lead the conference in digs per game (17.41).
THE QUEEN OF ACES: Junior Adrianna Stasiuk is ranked eighth in the conference with an average of 0.41 service aces per game.
MAKING A TEAM IMPACT: As a team the Irish have climbed to second in the conference in kills per game at 15.76, despite not having any individual ranked among the top-10.
SHE STANDS ABOVE ALL: Justine Stremick is not only the tallest player on the team at 6’3″, she also has more than double the amount of blocks with 101 this season than her next two closest teammates combined (Adrianna Stasiuk and Kim Kristoff), who total 92 together.
A DIFFERENT SEASON: Since the beginning of conference play the Irish lead the BIG EAST in hitting percentage (.296) and service aces per game (2.30). During league play only, Notre Dame is also second in conference in opponents hitting percentage (.142) and kills (16.80).
WE’RE TURNING THE CORNER: Several individual Notre Dame players have been playing exceptionally well since the start of league play. Sophomore Justine Stremick is fifth in hitting percentage (.385) in the six league matches. Freshman Kim Kristoff is eighth in the league in hitting percentage (.360) while fellow rookie Jamel Nicholas is averaging 0.55 service aces a game. Junior Adrianna Stasiuk is third in the league with an average of 0.60 service aces per game.
FOUR IS ABOUT RIGHT: Notre Dame is a solid 6-1 this season when playing four games; so losing a game somewhere in the first three has ultimately been a key ingredient to success.
LOVING THE HOME COOKING: Several Notre Dame player have played well at the friendly confines of the Joyce Center this season, none better than freshman Christina Kaelin. Kaelin is averaging 4.16 kills per game in home matches this season.
PACKING THEM IN: Aided by the football pep rally to follow, the attendance for Notre Dame’s match against Marquette on Oct. 6 was listed at 5,732. That crowd was to that point the 15th largest nationally and the second biggest crowd ever for a Notre Dame volleyball match at home. That number of fans is behind only the 8,643 fans that packed the Joyce Center for the Virginia Tech match on Nov. 7, 2003, which was also a pep rally match.
PHILLIPS NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman Serinity Phillips after the strongest week of her young career was named the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week for the first time in her career. Phillips totaled 20 kills (2.86 per game) and 11 blocks (1.57), while hitting .327 in the wins over Marquette and Syracuse. She is the second Irish freshman to be named rookie of the week this season, as Christina Kaelin was named BIG EAST Rookie of the Week twice earlier this season. This is the third time, since 1996, that two different Irish players have been named rookie of the week in the same season (2003 – Lauren Brewster & Lauren Kelbley and 1997 – Christi Girton & Denise Boylan.)
AN UNFORGETABLE MILESTONE: With the victory over Seton Hall, head coach Debbie Brown has now won 500 career matches in her 22-year career. She becomes only the 28th NCAA volleyball coach to ever attain 500 or more victories in a career.
A MEDIA FRIENDLY TEAM: The Irish have now played five matches on television this season and have a minimum of two more to shown this season including one this weekend. Notre Dame dropped its first television match to then #13 Missouri on Sept. 2 and also fell to Northern Iowa on Sept. 9. The Irish picked up a TV win against DePaul on Oct. 13 before falling twice to Hawai’i on Oct. 16 and 17. Notre Dame will have a TV match against St. John’s on Comcast Local on Oct. 22 and an ESPNU match against Louisville on Oct. 29.
A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN: Sophomore Justine Stremick controlled the action around the net against Idaho in the Shamrock Invitational. She tallied 14 blocks, including 11 block assists against the Vandals. Her 14 blocks in the four-game match is tied with Mary Kay Waller for the third most blocks by an ND blocker.
NOTRE DAME IN SEASON OPENERS: With a three game sweep of Bowling Green this season, Notre Dame has won its lidlifter for 16 consecutive season, every year since head coach Debbie Brown arrived on campus. The last time the Irish started the season 0-1 was in 1990, when they lost in four games to Montana in the Washington State Invitational.
NEW LEADERS: With the graduation of both captains from last season, the Notre Dame volleyball team has chosen two new leaders for this season. The new captains are senior Danielle Herndon and junior Adrianna Stasiuk.
WHO’S BACK? The Notre Dame volleyball team returns three starter and seven monogram winners from last year’s squad. Among the returnees, besides Herndon and Stasiuk, is all-time single season assist record holder (1,573) junior setter Ashley Tarutis. Also returning is junior outside hitter Ellen Heintzman, and sophomores Madison Clark, Mallorie Croal and Justine Stremick.
NEW FACES: The Notre Dame volleyball team has reloaded with six highly touted freshman vying for playing time this season. The freshmen this year are Tara Enzweiler, Megan Fesl, Christina Kaelin, Kim Kristoff, Jamel Nicholas and Serinity Phillips.
IRISH ARE THE BIG EAST FAVORITE: For the 11th time in 12 seasons as a member of the BIG EAST, Notre Dame volleyball program was chosen as the preseason favorite in the BIG EAST Conference. The only season Notre Dame was not chosen as the favorite since entering the league was last season’s second place prediction.
HONORS AND SELECTIONS: Junior outside hitter Adrianna Stasiuk and junior setter Ashley Tarutis were both chosen for the preseason All BIG-EAST squad.
Christina Kaelin was named the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week on Aug. 28 and Sept. 4.
Justine Stremick and Christina Kaelin were both named to the Shamrock Invitational All-Tournament Team on Sept. 2.
Danielle Herndon was a member of the UNI Invitational All-Tournament Team, Sept. 9.
Adrianna Stasiuk and Justine Stremick both took home some hardware from the Courtyard by Marriott Classic. Stasiuk was named the Co-Best Attacker of the Tournament while Stremick was named the Best Blocker.
Adrianna Stasiuk was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week for the second time in her career on Sept. 25.
Serinity Phillips was the BIG EAST ROOKIE of the Week on Oct. 9.
HOME FOOTBALL WEEKENDS: For the sixth time in seven years, the Notre Dame volleyball team plays matches this season that will precede football pep rallies. The Irish started the home portion of BIG EAST play against Marquette with a 3-1 win on Oct. 6. The match was the first of the two pre-pep rally matches for Notre Dame. Also on the schedule this season, the Connecticut match on Oct. 20 at 4 p.m. will take place before the pep rally for the UCLA game.
ALL BY HERSELF: Senior Danielle Herndon is the lone senior on the 13-person team this season, which is the first time since 1983 (Terese Henken) that the Irish have only had one senior on the team.
AN EXCEPTIONAL CLASS: The six student-athletes who comprise the freshman class for the University of Notre Dame women’s volleyball team this season – MB Tara Enzweiler, OH/OPP Megan Fesl, OH Christina Kaelin, MB Kim Kristoff, S Jamel Nicholas and OH/OPP Serinity Phillips – earned high praise before even stepping on campus, as two publications ranked the group among the five best in the country. Volleyball magazine had Notre Dame third on its list of top recruiting classes appearing in the August issue, while PrepVolleyball.com placed the Irish fifth on a similar list. These cap off the accolades received by the group, which features four PrepVolleyball.com high school All-Americans, three Volleyball magazine Fab 50 selections, and two Gatorade State Players of the Year for volleyball.
Fesl, Kaelin, and Kristoff were on Volleyball’s Girls Fab 50 list of the top high school seniors in the nation, announced in April. It is the first time since 1997 (Denise Boylan, Christi Girton, and Jo Jameyson) – and just the third time ever – that Notre Dame has had three Fab 50 picks in the same class. The other instance was the 1994 group of Angie Harris, Jaimie Lee, and Carey May. The Irish are one of only five schools that have three or more on the Fab 50 list, joining Penn State (four), Pepperdine (three), Texas A&M (three), and Wisconsin (three). Notre Dame has now had 23 players earn Fab 50 designation since 1990, including at least one in 11 of the last 13 years.
SHE’S THE BOSS: Irish head coach Debbie Brown is now in her 16th season as the leader of the Notre Dame volleyball program. She has led the Irish to a 386-129 mark (.750), while holding an overall record of 503-212 (.702). Brown’s Notre Dame teams have earned 14 consecutive NCAA tournament bids, advancing to the quarterfinals in 1993 and the round of 16 in ’94, ’95, and ’97. Her squads have won 20 or more matches 13 times. A 10-time conference coach of the year and the only five-time BIG EAST coach of the year (4 in the Midwestern Collegiate and one in the Pac-10), she has coached 12 Irish players to All-American honors. The Irish have also claimed 14 regular season conference titles (4 Midwestern Collegiate, 10 BIG EAST) and 13 league tournament titles (4 MCC, 9 BIG EAST) under her watch. A co-captain of the 1980 U.S Olympic volleyball team after winning a pair of national championships and earning All-American honors twice while playing at USC, Brown graduated from Arizona State in 1982 and coached her alma mater from 1983-88, helping the Sun Devils to five NCAA Tournaments.
A NEW MAN IN PLACE: The Fighting Irish in 2006 will have a new assistant coach in place as Greg Smith, formerly the head man at Virginia Tech, has joined the Notre Dame volleyball family this season. Smith compiled a record of 81-94 (463), including 37-38 (.493) in his five years in command of the Hokies. Smith replaces Robin Davis who took the head position at Boise State. Also joining the volleyball coaching staff, as volunteer assistant is Kevin Lane. Lane is an experienced coach on several levels having most recently spent time at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne, aiding the Mastodons to a runner-up finish at the National Independent University Tournament.
AN IMPRESSIVE STREAK: Notre Dame’s current 14 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is behind only seven other schools nationally (Stanford (25), Penn State (25), UC Santa Barbara (25), Nebraska (24), Long Beach State (19), USC (15) and Florida (15)) for consecutive appearances in the Big Dance.
HOME SWEET HOME: Notre Dame’s Joyce Center has become one of the most difficult places in the nation for road teams to win at, especially since the arrival of head coach Debbie Brown in 1991. Over the last 16 seasons, Notre Dame has posted a 186-31 record (.857) home record. The Irish have put together some impressive winning streaks on the home court, winning 14 or more matches in a row at home on five different occasions, highlighted by a streak of 27 (1993-95), and 36 (2000-02) straight home victories. Notre Dame also won 74 in a row in regular season action against conference opposition from 1991-2004. On 15 different occasions Notre Dame has topped a ranked team at the Joyce Center, including five upsets of teams ranked in the top-10. During the Brown era Notre Dame holds a home record of 177-10 (.947) against unranked teams at home.
CLASS OF THE CONFERENCE: Notre Dame has experienced unprecedented success in the 11 years since joining the league in 1995. The Irish have compiled a 126-7 (.947) regular season mark, highlighted by 10 titles and winning streaks of 45 and 35 consecutive matches. Notre Dame is 70-1 (.986) in BIG EAST regular-season contests in the Joyce Center. The Irish have won nine BIG EAST tournament championships, posting a mark of 22-2 (.917) in the event and reaching the final every season. The Fighting Irish have also dominated the conference awards; winning player-of the-year honors six times and coach-of-the-year five times. On nine occasions an Irish player has been named to the league tournament’s most outstanding player. Also, Notre Dame players have taken home 40 all-conference accolades, including 24 first team honors.
KEEPING UP WITH VOLLEYBALL: For the fastest results of Notre Dame volleyball matches call the Notre Dame sports hotline at (574) 631-3000 and choose #5 and #1. The hotline provides schedules and results information for all Irish varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the match recaps and weekly releases provided on the official athletic website at www.und.com. In addition, media members and fans can be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting sports information assistant Joe Prisco, at prisco.3@nd.edu. All requests for story ideas, interview access, match credentials and further information on Irish volleyball should also be directed to Prisco. Credential and interview requests should be made at least 24 hours in advance.
UP NEXT: The Irish will take to the road for a pair of conference matches starting on Saturday, Oct. 28 against Cincinnati at 2 p.m. and then against the always-challenging Louisville Cardinals at 2 p.m. on Oct. 29. The Louisville match will be a television match shown by ESPNU.