Sept. 15, 2006
TEMPE, ARIZONA- Junior Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) reached double figures in both kills and digs for the sixth time this season, as the Notre Dame volleyball team (5-4) opened the Courtyard by Marriott Classic with a 3-0 victory over the Butler Bulldogs (5-7) on Friday, Sept. 15 by the scores of 30-23, 30-19, 30-21.
Stasiuk led a very balanced Notre Dame attack with her 13 kills and also chipped in 13 digs for her sixth double-double of the season and 30th time of her career. Other key contributors to the Irish victory include freshman Megan Fesl (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey), who had a solid all-around performance with 10 kills on a .389 hitting percentage and 14 digs for her double-double of the season. Junior Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos) had a match-high 31 assists. Senior libero Danielle Herndon’s (Plant City, Fla./Durant) 21 digs led the squad for the ninth consecutive match, which is the now the third longest streak recorded by an Irish player. Freshman Serinity Phillips (Valley Center, Calif./Valley Center) had a solid performance with eight kills, as did fellow freshman Kim Kristoff (Carmel, Ind./Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) with a five kills.
For the match, the Irish hit a sizzling .310, out-blocked the Bulldogs 7-5 and out dug them 65-49.
The first game was back-and-forth affair with the Irish finally able to take control on a Phillips’ kill to go up 16-12. The Bulldogs fought back to get within two at 22-20 on the kill from Porshia Allen, but the Irish closed the game on a 8-3 run capped off by a pair of kills from Phillips.
The Irish took control of the second game from the beginning, jumping out a 7-2 advantage and never letting Butler get within two the rest of the game, before a kill from sophomore Justine Stremick (Langdon, N.D./Langdon Area) closed out the game at 30-19.
After a slow start in the third game, Notre Dame rallied to finally take the lead for good on a Mallorie Croal (Villa Park, Calif./Mater Dei) kill. The Irish continued to roll and opened up nine-point advantage at 25-16 on a Kristoff kill. Notre Dame closed the game and match on the kill from Stasiuk to take the third game by a final score of 30-21. The Irish hit an impressive .400 percent in the third game to win for the 14th time in 20 attempts over the Bulldogs.
Notre Dame will continue play in the Courtyard by Marriott Classic with a match-up against the Duke Blue Devils at 8 p.m. on Sept. 16.