Aug. 30, 2008
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Sophomore Kellie Sciacca had 14 kills and 10 blocks to help lead the Notre Dame volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-14, 25-20, 23-25, 25-18) win over Nevada Saturday evening at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame’s second win of the season-opening Shamrock Invitational bumped its record to 2-0. Nevada dropped to 0-2.
While junior Serinity Phillips and freshman Kristen Dealy notched double-doubles on Friday versus IPFW, it was Sciacca and freshman setter Beth Wildermuth who each collected double-doubles against Nevada. Wildermuth added 11 digs to her 17 assists and helped position Sciacca in posting a .464 hitting average. Notre Dame hit .200 as a team, besting the Wolf Pack’s .080 clip.
Junior Jamel Nicholas had 23 assists with classmate Christina Kaelin chalking up 11 kills. Both Phillips and Dealy ended with nine kills apiece. Freshman Frenchy Silva finished with double-figure kills for the second time in as many outings while totaling 14.
Both Nichol Link and Allison Hernandez had 17 digs for Nevada, which was paced by Kylie Harrington’s 14 kills.
The Wolf Pack took the first three scores of the match, countering early Irish attacks with a defense that scooped 61 digs on the night. Sciacca accounted for a trio of quick Irish scores with a pair of blocks and a backside kill to give Notre Dame an 11-9 edge. Dealy delivered a backrow attack through a triple block for a score to put Notre Dame ahead, 21-14. It was all Irish after that point, with junior Megan Fesl connecting on a pair of kills and two Nevada overpasses were slaughtered by Sciacca and Phillips to end the set.
Five of Sciacca’s kills came in the second set, but it was junior Kim Kristoff who provided the team with an early spark to set the tone for the stanza. Kristoff won a joust at the net then found daylight with a kill on the slide to make it a 3-2 set in Notre Dame’s favor. Phillips’ ace clipped the net and fell at 8-5 and her solo block at 15-13 kept the Wolf Pack at bay for a bit. Nevada closed to within two at 21-19, but Kaelin laced three kills to close the door on the visitors.
Notre Dame trailed by three to start off the third set, but Kaelin and company shifted gears to take a 15-14 lead. The Irish were seemingly in command of the stanza with a 20-15 lead but Nevada rallied to tie things at 23-23 before taking the set.
Notre Dame was plagued with a .048 hitting percentage in the third frame, though bounced back nicely with a .381 average in the fourth and final set. A 3-0 Irish lead turned into an 8-2 margin when Sciacca and Nicholas teamed for a block on the right side of the net. The lead grew to seven points on a pair of occasions before Dealy’s final kill of the night gave Notre Dame the win.
The Irish play Valparaiso Sunday (Aug. 31) at 2 p.m. (ET). Nevada and IPFW will square off at noon to start the final day of action at the Shamrock Invitational.
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