Oct. 7, 2001
The University of Notre Dame volleyball won its 10th match of the season in four games (30-27, 25-30, 30-21, 30-20) at Connecticut on Sunday. The 22nd-ranked Irish are now 10-3 on the season and 5-0 in BIG EAST Conference competition in 2001.
Notre Dame edged the Huskies 30-27 in game one by posting a .310 team hitting percentage, but that pattern reversed itself in the second game. Connecticut came back with 22 kills on .302 hitting in the second game (compared to Notre Dame’s 13 kills on just .146 hitting) and earned the game two victory 30-25. The home team could not keep up that high-percentage hitting performance, though, and the Irish held UConn to .135 and .000 in the final two games (30-21 and 30-20 wins) to get the victory.
The Irish offense was keyed by Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year Kristy Kreher. The senior opposite posted 20 kills in the victory, moving her into fifth on the all-time list at Notre Dame for 20-kills matches (eight). She scored her 20 kills on 36 attempts with just three errors for a solid .472 attack percentage. Kreher also had seven digs and three blocks.
But Kreher was not the only offensive star for the Irish on Sunday. Kim Fletcher (14), Malinda Goralski (12) and Emily Loomis (12) all scored double-digit kills for Notre Dame, including Fletcher’s .455 hitting percentage with seven blocks.
The Notre Dame defense played its role as well. After posting 13 blocks the day before at Boston College (a 3-0 victory), the Irish executed another 13 blocks against the Huskies on Sunday. Notre Dame also had 12 more digs than UConn, including 18 from Janie Alderete and 10 each from Jessica Kinder and Keara Coughlin.
Notre Dame will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 12, in the Joyce Center against Villanova at 4 p.m.