Sept. 5, 2001
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U.S. Bank/Arby’s Tournament, Lincoln, Neb.
#20 Notre Dame vs. #7 UCLA, Friday, Sept. 7, 4:30 p.m.
#1 Nebraska vs. #15 Pepperdine, Friday, Sept. 7, 7 p.m.
#20 Notre Dame vs. #1 Nebraska, Saturday, Sept. 8, 1 p.m.
#7 UCLA vs. #15 Pepperdine, Saturday, Sept. 8, 3:30 p.m.
#20 Notre Dame vs. #15 Pepperdine, Sunday, Sept. 9, 1 p.m.
#1 Nebraska vs. #7 UCLA, Sunday, Sept. 9, 3:30 p.m.
Preview of the tournament field:
One of the top in-season tournaments in the nation will take place this weekend in Lincoln, Neb., as the University of Nebraska (3-1), the defending National Champion and #1 ranked team in the nation, hosts the U.S. Bank/Arby’s Tournament at the Nebraska Coliseum. UCLA (#7), Pepperdine (#15) and Notre Dame (#20) will make up the round-robin tournament field. The Huskers-Irish matchup on Saturday will be even more special as both team’s highly-ranked football teams will meet in Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m. that night.
Nebraska won the National Championship last season with a perfect 34-0 record, which included at three-game victory over Notre Dame at the Joyce Center (Sept. 8, 2000). The Huskers suffered their first loss of the 2001 season to second-ranked Long Beach State last weekend. UCLA and Pepperdine are both 3-0 on the season.
Notre Dame vs. #1:
The Irish have faced the #1 ranked team in the nation twice in the program’s history. On Nov. 7, 1995, the Irish lost to #1 Nebraska 3-0 in Lincoln and on Nov. 29, 1997, #1 Long Beach State won on its home court against the Irish in three games.
A look at the Bruins:
UCLA and Notre Dame met for the first time last season during the adidas Invitational at the Joyce Center. The Bruins, who entered the match ranked third in the nation, defeated the Irish 15-7, 15-7, 17-15. The Bruins boast one of the top offensive threats in the nation, senior outside hitter Kristee Porter. Porter enters this weekend’s action averaging 6.20 kills per game over the first three matches of the season. No stranger to top-ranked competition, UCLA has already defeated #19 Kansas State and #5 Hawai’i this season.
A look at the Huskers:
Nebraska and Notre Dame will be meeting for the eighth time and the Huskers hold a 5-2 advantage in the series. The last five meetings of the series, Nebraska has been ranked in the top 10 in the country. Notre Dame’s two victories in the series came in 1993, when the Irish knocked off #3 Nebraska in four games during the Golden Dome Invitational, then swept the Huskers in the second round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament at the Joyce Center.
The Irish and the Huskers met in the adidas Invitational last season with the Huskers earning a 3-0 victory on their way to a 34-0 record and the NCAA Championship. Nebraska returns player of the year Greichaly Cepero at setter and has started the 2001 season 3-1, dropping a match to second-ranked Long Beach State on Sept. 1.
A look at the Waves:
Pepperdine and Notre Dame will be meeting for the first time. The Waves ended the 2000 season ranked 18th and are currently 15th in the country after opening with three victories over Northern Arizona, Fresno State and Florida State. Pepperdine competes in the Big West conference and finished second in league competition last year with a 24-7 record. Katie Wilkins has led the Wave offense this season with 5.00 kills per game on .326 hitting.
Irish capture second consecutive Shamrock Invitational title:
Bolstered by some high-percentage hitting and a stellar blocking performance by BIG EAST Co-Player of the Week Malinda Goralski (Missouri City, Texas), Notre Dame earned three match victories in 28 hours last weekend to claim its second-straight Shamrock Invitational title. The Irish hit .309 as a team over the course of the tournament and Goralski, who blocked a career-best 11 against Idaho (a 3-1 Irish victory) in the championship match on Sept. 1, totaled 25 blocks (2.50 per game) and 37 kills (3.70 per game) to earn all-tournament honors.
Sophomore middle blocker Kim Fletcher (St. Louis, Mo.) was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after posting 14 kills vs. Idaho (on .448 hitting), eight kills against Florida Atlantic (on .308 hitting) and 13 kills vs. Southwest Texas (on .684 hitting) to lead the Irish scoring effort. Fletcher would end up committing just five attack errors in 61 chances (.492) during the three victories.
Notre Dame’s third all-tournament selection was sophomore setter Kristen Kinder (Fresno, Calif.). In her first three matches as a starter, Kinder played a key role in Notre Dame’s .309 team hitting percentage. She averaged 12.50 assists per game and was seemingly all over the court with 15 kills, five aces, 23 digs and eight blocks in the tournament.
Collegiate volleyball implements three new rules:
The National Association for Girls and Women in Sports (NAGWS), the official rules-making body for women’s collegiate volleyball, has announced three modifications that will directly affect the way the game is played in 2001.
The NAGWS has introduced rally scoring and each play will result in a point being scored. Each match will be a best-of-five with games one through four being played to 30 points. The fifth and deciding game (if necessary) will be to 15 points. All games need to be won by two points.
Another rule change will affect the serve. First, players will not be allowed a second toss for service and the let serve will be allowed. Should a served ball touch the net, it will be a legal, live ball as long as it continues its path to the opponents court.
The third rule change is optional and can be implemented by the coaches before the match. Referred to as ‘international pursuit’, the rule allows for a player to retrieve a ball (on second contact) that has crossed the plane of the net to the opponents free space, provided that player does not touch the opponents court and send the ball back to their court, over or outside the antennas, for an opportunity for the third contact.
Goralski grabs BIG EAST weekly award:
Senior middle blocker Malinda Goralski earned her first BIG EAST Player of the Week award on Monday, Sept. 3, after helping lead the Irish to three straight victories in the Shamrock Invitational.
She recorded 37 kills and 25 blocks during the weekend, including slamming down a career-high 18 kills Friday (Aug. 31) against Southwest Texas State. Goralski, who earned all-tournament honors, also tied a career high with 11 blocks against Idaho in Notre Dame’s 3-1 win against the Vandals. On the weekend, Goralski recorded 3.7 kills and 2.5 blocks per game while hitting .463.
Coaching change:
Robin Davis, most recently an assistant at Northern Arizona, has joined the Irish staff as an assistant. Davis replaces Lindsay Rosenthal and will help the Irish in the day-to-day business of the program, recruiting and on-court teaching.
Davis also has head coaching experience at Biola (Calif.) University. He coached 10 years at Biola, then moved on to Northern Arizona, helping them qualify for the NCAA Tournament in 1999 and 2000 while capturing the Big Sky Conference Co-Championship in 2000.
Top hitters return to 2001 lineup:
The 2001 Irish offense will feature some of the top percentage hitters of all time in its starting lineup. Senior opposite Kristy Kreher (Birmingham, Mich.) is first on the all-time list for career hitting percentage (.321) while senior middle blocker Malinda Goralski posted a .380 hitting percentage last season to raise her career average to .347 (Goralski has yet to log enough attempts to qualify for the all-time list). Sophomore MB Kim Fletcher also posted a .272 hitting percentage as a rookie last season.
Senior OH Marcie Bomhack has displayed the ability to explode for streaks of effective hitting, scoring 16 kills on .483 hitting vs. North Carolina and 14 kills on .700 hitting vs. Providence in 2000.
Irish forced to adjust from the comforts of home to life on the road:
Notre Dame played 19 matches in the friendly confines of the Joyce Center last season. The Irish had 17 regular-season home matches scheduled and won both matches at the 2000 BIG EAST Volleyball Championship, which was held on campus.
The 2001 schedule calls for at least 16 road matches, a number that could increase if the Irish qualify for the BIG EAST Championship. A key stretch of the Irish schedule will be six consecutive road matches from Oct. 16 through Nov. 4.
Welcome to the BIG EAST:
In addition to facing Pepperdine for the first time ever at the US Bank/Arby’s Tournament in Lincoln, Neb., this weekend, Notre Dame will face Virginia Tech for the first time ever and the first time as a BIG EAST Conference opponent on Sept. 28.
Virginia Tech enters the conference for volleyball competition for the first time in 2001. The Hokies competed as independents last season and compiled a 13-16 record.
Freshman poised to contribute:
Even as the Irish welcome back 10 monogram winners to the 2001 roster, three talented freshman have joined the team this season. Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind.) has made a push for playing time after posting a 10-6 jump-reach in a preseason test and displaying solid offensive and defensive skills. Loomis tied for the team lead in kills in the Shamrock Invitational championship match vs. Idaho with 14. OH Leah Nedderman (Grapevine, Texas) and MB Kelly Corbett (Mountain View, Calif.) have both impressed the Irish coaching staff in the preseason and are poised to see significant playing time off the bench.
Strong schedule:
Irish head coach Debbie Brown, who led the team to two key victories over high ranked opponents in 2000 (3-2 come-from-behind victory over #15 BYU and a 3-1 win over #22 Loyola Marymount), has scheduled a number of highly-rated teams this season. Notre Dame will face four top 25 teams, highlighted by a match at #1 Nebraska this weekend. Seventh-ranked UCLA and 15th-ranked Pepperdine will be at the Nebraska tournament as well and the Irish will play #11 Florida at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex on Nov. 24.
Career-bests over the weekend:
A number of Irish players posted career-bests during the Shamrock Invitational last weekend. Malinda Goralski tied her career high in both kills (18) and blocks (11) vs. Southwest Texas and Idaho, respectively. Kim Fletcher posted two career-bests while achieving her first career double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs against Idaho and while freshman Emily Loomis also posted 14 kills vs. the Vandals, for a personal-best total of her young career.