#8 Ashley Tarutis 2006-07 Volleyball Roster

Fiery senior leader with a knack for winning … outstanding floor leader who brings tremendous energy to those around her … plays with a huge heart and lots of passion … team[apos]s emotional leader … solid all-around player … boasts strong jump float serve … a good communicator with the ability to make teammates better … has improved every season in terms of her set location, techniques, leadership, running the floor and understanding of the game … from same area in California as former Irish standout Marilyn Cragin (1989-92) … sports same #8 jersey worn by former Irish standouts such as current Wisconsin-Milwaukee head coach Kathy Cunningham (1986-89), Mary Leffers (1996-99), and honorable-mention All-America setter Kristen Kinder (2000-03) … is a three-time monogram winner.

AS A JUNIOR (2006): Preseason all-BIG EAST selection in 2006 … one of only three Irish players to appear in all 114 games and 32 matches, starting 25 of those contests … led the team in service aces with 31 (0.27 per game) … third on teams in digs (238) … reached double figures in assists in all 32 matches … led the team with a total of 860 assists (7.54) to help Notre Dame rank second among BIG EAST squads is assists per game 14.78 in league contests … continued to climb the all-time assist list by moving into the No. 4 spot, trailing third-place by only 113 assists … reached double figures in digs eight times … had 27 assists and 13 digs against Valparaiso in the Shamrock Invitational (9/1) … one day later, she registered 33 assists and nine digs against #13 Missouri … tallied 31 assists in back-to-back matches at Northern Iowa (9/9) and Butler (9/15) … tallied 30 assists against both Marquette (10/6) and Connecticut (10/20) … had 39 assists at South Florida (11/5) and 46 assists against Pittsburgh (11/11) … season-best 54 assists and 11 digs in the first round of the BIG EAST Championship at Cincinnati (11/17) … 34 assists and 10 digs against #24 St. John[apos]s in the second round of the BIG EAST Championship … 31 assists and nine digs vs. Louisville (11/19) in the championship game in the BIG EAST … 33 assists and nine digs vs. #18 Ohio (11/24) in the Louisville Invitational … 20 assists and nine digs at #10 Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament … team leader in assists 21 times and in sever matches led the Irish in aces.

AS A SOPHOMORE (2005): Led the Irish to a 30-4 mark in her second season as a starter … named to all-BIG EAST second team (no setters earned first-team accolades) … led the conference and ranked 32nd nationally in assists per game (12.69) … set Notre Dame[apos]s season record for assists with 1,573 (previous mark 1,536 by Carey May in 1995) … helped Irish lead the conference in assists per game (15.55) in league action and rank second in hitting percentage (.289) and kills (16.79) … in overall action, Notre Dame was third in conference in hitting percentage (.251) and fourth in kills per game (15.98) under her direction … ranked third on team in service ace-to-error ratio (1.17) and tied for second in aces (34/0.27), as well as third in digs (317/2.56) and service percentage (.947) … increased assist average (from 10.27 in 2004 to 12.69 in [apos]05), hitting percentage (.204 to .217), team hitting percentage (.227 to .251), dig average (2.38 to 2.56), service percentage (.935 to .947), service ace-to-error ratio (0.89 to 1.17), and block average (0.26 to 0.46) … helped the Irish lead the BIG EAST in digs in conference action (17.70 per game; runner-up West Virginia had 16.76) after the team had never before placed higher than sixth … Notre Dame also led the league in overall digging (18.03; best finish before was sixth) … the Irish average was the second-highest in program history (record is 18.25 in 1992) … her assist average ranked as the third-highest season mark in Notre Dame history … … Notre Dame has averaged 15.64 kills per contest in which she has played … led a resurgent Irish offense that averaged 16.35 kills on .269 hitting over the last 26 matches of the season after averaging 14.81 on .200 hitting in the first eight matches … played in every match since arriving to Notre Dame and led the Irish in assists in each of her two seasons … has been tops in aces 11 times … was named to BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll twice (Sept. 25, Oct. 17) … had 18 double-doubles to bring her career total to 30 … led Irish to .300+ hitting on 10 occasions (after doing so just six times a year ago), including three marks over .400 … orchestrated a near-perfect Irish attack at DePaul on Oct. 15, as Notre Dame posted its highest hitting percentage in 20 years (and second-highest ever), finishing with 53 kills and six errors on 90 attempts for a .522 mark … her offense had 14 kills and one error on 16 swings in final game (DePaul dug just one ball) for an .812 hitting mark – the highest in any game during under Debbie Brown … led Irish to back-to-back five-game victories against #11 Texas and Arizona State to claim the Shamrock Invitational title … had career-high 65 assists and 18 digs while leading Irish to .266 hitting against the Sun Devils … posted 56 assists and 10 digs in leading Notre Dame over #8 USC … came back two days later with 46 assists and 13 digs in three-game sweep of #6 Florida … set team to .319 hitting mark against Seton Hall (including three kills of her own on as many swings) and followed that up with a .385 hittng day at Loyola (Ill.) … recorded 51 assists at Marquette and 56 at St. John[apos]s … turned in 16 digs against Valparaiso … posted 42 assists and set Irish to .355 hitting mark at Connecticut … had 51 assists, nine digs, and four blocks at Illinois State … set team to .451 hitting against South Florida and .393 mark vs. Georgetown … led Irish to upset over #6 Louisville and finished with 63 assists, which was a career high for her in a four-game match … had 43 assists the following day against Cincinnati … notched 48 assists – a career high for a three-game affair – in leading team to .417 hitting against Saint Louis … helped team hit .308 at West Virginia … had 46 assists and led Irish to .326 hitting against Villanova … led Notre Dame to the BIG EAST tournament title, with wins over Villanova, Cincinnati, and #7 Louisville … posted career-high five blocks against both the Wildcats and Bearcats and had seven points vs. Cincinnati … notched 62 assists without a ball-handling error in the title match against the Cards … led her offense to 49 kills and only five errors (the fewest for Notre Dame in a match since 10/8/00 vs. West Virginia) for a .393 hitting mark, the fifth time over .390 in a 15-match stretch … had four blocks vs. Owls … posted 58 assists against Tennessee in regular-season finale … barely missed recording a triple-double in NCAA Tournament first-round match against Dayton, finishing with 55 assists, 10 digs, and career-high nine kills … also had four blocks and three aces for career-best 14 points … set a career best mark with 19 digs in the NCAA Tournament round of 16 match against #12 Wisconsin.

AS A FRESHMAN (2004): Stepped in to become Notre Dame[apos]s starting setter for the majority of the 2004 season while the Irish compiled a 20-8 record … rotated with Kelly Burrell as setter in every match but one, typically exiting for two front-row rotations … major reason the Irish led the BIG EAST in hitting pct. in league play (.254) … led team in assists (1,150/10.27) and service ace-to-error ratio (0.89, 31 A, 35 E), while coming in second in serve pct. (.935, 506-541) and third in digs (267/2.38) and aces (31/0.28) … set team to a .227 attack percentage for the season, including six matches above .300 … as a starter, averaged 10.61 assists, with the Irish hitting .233 with 15.43 kills per game after ND had 13.14 kills on .130 hitting in first two matches of season … registered team-high 12 double-doubles … eighth in BIG EAST in assists, and 10th in that category against league opponents … led Irish to 38 games above .300 hitting, including 14 over .400 … in the final seven regular-season matches, averaged 12.81 assists per game, with team hitting .263, and finished over .300 in nine of 26 games … was tops on team in assists in every match … committed just 16 ball-handling errors, or one every 72 assists (and one every 7.0 games) … did not commit a ball-handling error in 20 of 30 contests … in first career start, nearly led ND to an upset over #2 Nebraska before falling in five games … finished with 51 assists in that match against the Huskers (20 in game two), most by an Irish freshman since 1997 (Denise Boylan had 73 in the NCAA Tournament) … also converted six kills on .357 hitting, marking the most by an freshman setter since 1992 … added 14 digs vs. the Huskers … had 25 assists and 14 digs vs. Loyola (Ill.) in collegiate debut … led Irish to Cal Poly Invitational title, winning nine of 11 games and leading the field in hitting percentage (.253), kills (16.00), and assists (14.45) … earned first victory as a starter in five-game match against Fresno State (49 assists, 18 digs, team .275) … had 44 assists in helping Notre Dame to .289 hitting mark (two games at .310+) in leading Irish to first win over Michigan State since 1994 and their highest attack percentage in a match longer than three games since Nov. 7, 2003 … led team to .315 hitting vs. Seton Hall, including 17+ kills in all four games and .340+ in three of them … led Notre Dame to outstanding hitting efforts in first (21 K, 4 AE, .347) and fifth (8 K, 1 AE, .438) games in win vs. Illinois State … led consistent Notre Dame attack that upset #14 Utah in three games on the Utes[apos] home floor to snap their school-record 12-match winning streak and to become the first visiting team to win there in more than a year … orchestrated and outstanding performance against St. John[apos]s in which Notre Dame hit over .330 in every game and season-high .356 for the match … averaged 13.33 assists in final weekend of league action, leading ND to 3-0 wins against rival Pittsburgh (41 assists, 10 digs, team .310+ in two games) and West Virginia (39 assists, season-high four service aces) to clinch the BIG EAST regular season championship … became first Irish setter in more than a year to hit the 60-assist plateau, ending with 63 against Northern Iowa while recording a season-high 3 blocks … led Irish to eighth BIG EAST tournament title with wins over Boston College and Pittsburgh … helped ND win the Baden Thanksgiving Tournament title with the Irish[apos]s first two wins ever in The Pyramid and its first over Long Beach State (62 assists) … became just the fifth player — and first since 1997 (Denise Boylan) — to be Notre Dame[apos]s top setter as a freshman … in three matches – all wins – against Big West teams, she averaged 0.55 aces per game and helped Notre Dame hit .280 … averaged 3.15 digs per game in six matches against AVCA Central Region opponents.

PREP AND PERSONAL: Two-time first-team All-American, captained Los Alamitos HS in Los Alamitos, Calif., to its first-ever state championship in 2003 … tabbed Los Alamitos[apos] Female Athlete of the Year for 2003-04 … listed 88th in PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces rankings and was third among California setters … named All-American by PrepVolleyball.com … earned three varsity letters … named MVP of prep national tournament in 2003 and helped team to a first-place finish, after being on all-tournament team the previous year … garnered first-team all-Sunset League honors three times, including being named co-MVP as a senior … helped team to conference titles in each of final two seasons, as well as California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section championship in [apos]02 … Los Alamitos was the CIF southern California champion in [apos]03 … three times honored as all-CIF performer … earned first-team all-area honors from Los Angeles Times, Long Beach Press Telegram, and Orange County Register in her final two prep seasons … tabbed area[apos]s athlete of the week by local newspapers three times … named team[apos]s co-MVP in each of final two campaigns … registered career-high 86 assists during a match in 2002 … one of her best all-around performances came in the 2003 Southern California regional title game against Paway when she had five service aces, 35 assists, four kills, and four blocks … gained first-team All-America accolades at the Junior National Olympics in 2003 and 2004 as part of the Golden West Volleyball Club … played in Orange County all-star game as a senior … four times earned school[apos]s Scholar Athlete award … listed in ‘Who[apos]s Who in High School Sports’ … a California Scholarship Federation Gold Seal Bearer … from same hometown as former Notre Dame football All-American Jack Snow (`65) … full name is Ashley Morgan Tarutis … oldest of four children … daughter of Deborah Welliver and Michael Tarutis … last name is pronounced tuh-ROO-Tiss … born July 6, 1986, in Long Beach, Calif. … enrolled in the College of Arts & Letters as a sociology and psychology major.

Tarutis[apos] Career Statistics