Oct. 31, 2006
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THIS WEEK: The Irish (13-10, 7-3 BIG EAST) travel this weekend for two important conference matches. The Irish are looking to snap their three match losing streak as they take on Georgetown (7-16, 1-9 BIG EAST) at 8 p.m. on Friday, November 3. Notre Dame will then continue the road travels with a trip to Florida to take on South Florida (11-12, 6-4 BIG EAST) at 1 p.m. on Sunday, November 5. The Sunday match will be broadcast on gousfbulls.com as part of their monthly fee based “Press Pass” Package. For more details about how to get the match check out the South Florida website.
QUICK HITS ABOUT THE IRISH: Below are some highlights of the note package. For more details on any topic, consult the remainder of the release.
* The Fighting Irish had a tough weekend playing on the road against Cincinnati and Louisville. Notre Dame dropped a pair of three gamers to each school.
* The current three-match skid is only the eighth time since Debbie Brown took over the program in 1991 that this has happened.
* The three consecutive losses in BIG EAST play is the first time this has happened to Notre Dame since joining the conference in 1995.
* Freshman Christina Kaelin led the attack against Cincinnati with 13 kills, which was her 10th time leading the team in finishers this season. Kaelin also tallied a career best seven digs against the Bearcats.
* Sophomore Mallorie Croal had a steady game against Cincinnati with 10 kills, 13 digs and six blocks. For Croal it was her second double-double of the season and the block total tied her career-high.
* Sophomore Justine Stremick also had a solid defensive effort with seven blocks.
* This was the first time that Cincinnati has defeated Notre Dame is six tries.
* The sophomore duo of Mallorie Croal and Justine Stremick led the attack against Louisville with 10 kills each.
* Croal also had a team best eight digs and two blocks.
*This match was only the second time all season that the Notre Dame digs leader did not reach double figures (Santa Clara-9/3-Danielle Herndon (9)).
* The game of the Louisville match was the first time this season that freshman setter Jamel Nicholas did not make an appearance.
* Sophomore Madison Clark had a season best three digs against the Cardinals.
* Sophomore Justine Stremick has a career hitting percentage of .600 against both Georgetown and South Florida.
* Junior Ashley Tarutis averages three digs and 11.50 assists per game against the Hoyas and 13 assists per game against the Bulls.
* Debbie Brown is 14-1 lifetime against Georgetown while the Irish are 15-1 against the Hoyas. The Irish and coach Brown have only faced South Florida last season but it was a three game victory.
* Notre Dame has now traveled 15,585.79 miles this season through the Louisville trip back home.
* The Irish are 4-2 on the first day of a road trip. Adrianna Stasiuk and Christina Kaelin have played well on the first day of the trips. Stasiuk has averaged 3.56 kills per game and 3.94 digs per game while Kaelin is averaging 3.62 kills per game.
* The Irish have played well on Friday’s this season. Notre Dame is 6-0 and has 46 service aces on Friday’s compared to the opponents 46. Christina Kaelin is averaging 4.06 kills per game on Friday’s.
* Christina Kaelin has 19 blocks this season but 10 (53 percent) are solo blocks, by far the highest percentage on the team.
* Three Notre Dame volleyball players have played in all 80 games this season (Justine Stremick, Ashley Tarutis, and Danielle Herndon). Another trends includes Notre Dame has used 10 different starting lineups this season, all of which have featured at least two freshman and sometimes as many as four.
* A few Notre Dame volleyball players are quickly moving up the career and season charts. Junior Adrianna Stasiuk with her 18 double digit digs matches this season now has 62 in her career, which is fourth all-time in the double figure dig mark. She also has totaled 37 double-doubles, which is third all-time on that list.
* Ashley Tarutis with her 545 assists this season now has 3,268 assists in her career, which is fourth all-time having just passed Taryn Collins.
* Freshman Christina Kaelin with five 20+-kill matches this year is just out of the top-10 all-time for career matches with 20+ kills for the Irish.
* Danielle Herndon is quickly moving up the career digs list. She now has 1,102 digs in her career, which is good for seventh all-time. Herndon’s 18 times leading the team in digs this season is fifth in a single season at Notre Dame having just passed Lindsay Treadwell (1998). Herndon’s 411 digs this year is the eighth highest single season total in the record books for Notre Dame
* Adrianna Stasiuk has recorded 13 double-doubles in the first 21 matches.
* The Irish continue to alternate their two setters this season with both Ashley Tarutis and Jamel Nicholas earning playing time. Each setter has started and lead the team in assists in at least nine matches this season.
* No individual Notre Dame player is ranked among the top-10 in the BIG EAST in assists, yet the Irish thanks to both setters, Jamel Nicholas and Ashley Tarutis, are second in the conference in assists (14.44).
* Justine Stremick currently is sixth in the conference in blocks per game with an average of 1.41. Her 20 solo blocks are second in the conference.
* Justine Stremick’s 113 total blocks this year is more than her next two teammates combined.
* Danielle Herndon is second in the BIG EAST with her average of 5.14 digs per game. The Irish are second in the BIG EAST with an average of 17.50 digs per game.
* The Irish are second in the conference in kills per game 15.68, despite not having a single individual ranked among the top-10.
* In BIG EAST play only the Irish are second in the league in hitting percentage (.257), fourth in service aces per game (1.69) and fifth in kills (16.19).
* Since the beginning of conference play junior Adrianna Stasiuk is fourth in the league with an average of 0.54 service aces per game and 10th in digs per game (3.96).
* The Irish are 6-1 in four game matches this season.
* In road matches this season, Adrianna Stasiuk is averaging 3.36 kills per game and 3.36 digs per game.
* With the victory over Seton Hall on Saturday, Sept. 30, head coach Debbie Brown became only the 28th NCAA volleyball coach to reach the 500-win milestone. Her record now stands at 504-215 in her 22 years as collegiate head coach at Arizona State and Notre Dame.
* Notre Dame has high hopes for the upcoming 2006 campaign as the squad returns three starters and seven monogram winners.
* Joining the strong nucleus this season is one the highest ranked freshman classes in the country (third by Volleyball Magazine and fifth by PrepVolleyball.com).
* Head Coach Debbie Brown returns for her 16th season at the helm of volleyball program and signed a new contract extension in the off-season.
* Two additions to the coaching staff this season are former Virginia Tech head coach Greg Smith and Kevin Lane.
* Notre Dame takes on nine teams in 10 matches this season that were participants in the 2005 NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
* Notre Dame had four home matches on home football weekends this season and went 3-1 in with victories over Marquette, Syracuse and Connecticut.
* Danielle Herndon is the lone senior on the team, the first time since 1983 that the Notre Dame roster will only have one senior.
* Over the last 16 years Notre Dame is an impressive 187-32 (.854) at the Joyce Center.
* The Fighting Irish have compiled an overall record of 127-10 (.927) including a record of 71-2 at the Joyce Center during regular season play against BIG EAST competition since joining the conference in 1995.
* This is the 35th anniversary of women’s athletics at Notre Dame, in celebration the volleyball team and the female athletic teams at Notre Dame will wear special patches on their uniforms this season. There will also be a special celebration in April. For more information see the info located toward the back of this notes package.
SCOUTING GEORGETOWN: The Hoyas lost a pair of matches over the weekend falling to St. John’s in three on Friday, Oct. 27 and to Connecticut in three on Sunday, Oct. 29 … Georgetown has now dropped three consecutive matches … sophomore outside hitter Jessica Buffum has been the best Hoyas’ weapon with a team leading 296 kills (3.57 per game) … senior Annie Connor has been a steady middle blocker with 242 kills and a team best 81 blocks … the Hoyas use a two-setter approach as both Kate Fisher and Caitlin Boland have over 300 assists … Boland leads the team with 519 assists, while Fisher has tallied 319 helpers … Arlisa Hagan is in her first year of leading the Hoyas.
SERIES VS. GEORGETOWN: The Irish and Hoyas will meet for the 12th consecutive season and 17th time overall … Notre Dame has won all but one of the previous contests, including each of the last seven … in 2005, the Irish won 30-12, 30-22, 30-20 at the Joyce Center … this will be ND’s sixth trip to the McDonough Gym in Washington, where it has never lost a match and only a total of three games since the teams began playing each other in 1986 … the teams have twice played five-game matches, with the Irish prevailing in both (1999 and 2001 BIG EAST semifinals) … the lone victory for Georgetown was a 15-11, 15-10, 15-8 triumph in the title match of the 1999 BIG EAST Championship in Pittsburgh, which made the Hoyas the first team (and still one of only two) to defeat Notre Dame in the BIG EAST tournament … the schools played twice before the Irish became a member of the BIG EAST … the Irish won 15-1, 15-6, 10-15, 15-6 in Washington in 1986 in the first-ever meeting and then were victorious again in four games in the 1992 William & Mary Invitational … Notre Dame, ranked 10th, took the first BIG EAST meeting 15-11, 15-3, 15-6, in ’95 … the teams have played three times in the BIG EAST Championship at Pittsburgh, with the Irish winning in 1998 (3-0) and in 2001 (3-2, 15-11 in the fifth) … Georgetown’s ’99 win snapped an eight-match losing streak against the Irish … Notre Dame leads in games won 45-11.
SCOUTING SOUTH FLORIDA: The Bulls lost a pair of matches over the weekend falling to Connecticut and St. John’s in two three-game sweeps … the two losses snap the four match winning streak the Bulls had been riding … the USF attack has been very balanced this season with four players with 200+ kills … leading the attack for South Florida has been freshman outside hitter Marcela Gurgel … Gurgel has totaled 390 kills (an average of 4.64 per game) to go along with 209 digs … sophomore libero Stephanie Augustavo has a team best 372 digs this season … senior setter Juliana Nogueira is among the conference leaders with her 666 assists (12.11 per game) … head coach Claire Lessinger is in her third year at South Florida.
SERIES VS. SOUTH FLORIDA: This will be only the second-ever meeting between Notre Dame and South Florida in women’s volleyball … ND took all three games in the 2005 match 30-10, 30-26, 30-20 … the 20 point margin in the first game is tied for second-largest margin of victory for ND in a game … senior Danielle Herndon (Plant City, Durant H.S., Tampa Bay Juniors VBC) is the latest Florida product to play volleyball for the Irish … prior to that her, the only two natives of the Sunshine State had played for Notre Dame … Herndon is the second Tampa-area product to play for the Irish, following standout middle blocker Mary Leffers (1996-99, Tampa, Berkeley Prep School, Tampa Bay Juniors VBC) … ND and USF have met 28 times previously in other sports, with the Notre Dame leading 19-9.
ND-SOUTH FLORIDA MATCH-BY-MATCH: See below for the match scores of the previous contest between the Irish and the Bulls.
A BUMP IN THE ROAD OF THE CONFERENCE SEASON: The Fighting Irish had a tough weekend playing on the road against Cincinnati and Louisville. Notre Dame dropped a pair of three gamers. Notre Dame is now on a three-match skid for only the eighth time since Debbie Brown took over the program in 1991. The three straight losses in BIG EAST play is the first time that has happened since the Irish joined the BIG EAST in 1995.
NOTES FROM THE CINCINNATI MATCH: Notre Dame had several noteworthy performances from the Cincinnati match.
* Freshman Christina Kaelin led the attack with 13 kills. It was the 10th time this season she has led the team in kills. Kaelin also had a career-best seven digs.
* Sophomore Mallorie Croal had a steady performance with 10 kills, 13 digs and six blocks. It was her second double-double of the season. Her six blocks also tied her career-best.
* Sophomore Justine Stremick tallied seven blocks.
* Junior setter Ashley Tarutis picked up her sixth double-double of the season with 17 assists and 11 digs.
* Senior Danielle Herndon led the team in digs with 22 for the 18th time this season.
* This was the first match Adrianna Stasiuk was not able to play in this season.
* This was also the first time that Cincinnati has defeated the Irish in six tries.
NOTES FROM THE LOUISVILLE MATCH: Notre Dame had a few noteworthy performances from the Louisville match.
* Sophomore’s Justine Stremick and Mallorie Croal each had 10 kills to lead the attack
* Croal also led the defensive effort with eight digs and two blocks.
* This was only the second time this season that a Notre Dame player did not reach double figures in digs (Danielle Herndon -nine, 9/3).
* The second game against the Cardinals was the first game that freshman Jamel Nicholas did not play in this season.
* Sophomore Madison Clark tallied a season best three digs for the Irish.
AGAINST THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS:
* Sophomore Justine Stremick has strong career numbers against Georgetown and South Florida with a .600 hitting percentage.
* Junior Ashley Tarutis averages three digs and 11.50 assists per game against the Hoyas and 13 assists per game against South Florida
* With Debbie Brown at the helm the Irish are 14-1 all-time against Georgetown and 15-1 overall. Her record and the Notre Dame record is 1-0 against South Florida with last year’s match being the only time these two teams had ever met.
THE PLACES WE’VE GONE: Following the trip to Louisville for Notre Dame, the Irish have logged 15,585.79 miles this season through bus and planes to destinations.
THE FIRST DAY IS OUR BEST: Notre Dame is 4-2 this season on the first day of a road trip, having defeated Alabama, Butler, Rutgers and Seton Hall and fallen to then No. 16 Hawai’i and Cincinnati. Junior Adrianna Stasiuk and freshman Christina Kaelin have led the charge. Stasiuk has averaged 3.56 kills per game and 3.94 digs per game in the first day of a road trip while Kaelin has tallied a team best 3.62 kills per game.
FRIDAY IS OUR DAY: Having a match against Georgetown on Friday, Nov. 3 is sweet music to the ears of the Irish. Notre Dame is 6-0 on Friday match days. The Irish have defeated Valparaiso, Alabama, Butler, Marquette, DePaul and Connecticut. In those six matches has 46 service aces (2.19 per game) to the oppositions 19. Freshman Christina Kaelin has enjoyed the Friday action as she is averaging 4.06 kills per game on Friday’s this season.
A LONE BLOCKER: Christina Kaelin has 19 blocks this season, but 10 (53 percent) of which are solo blocks, which is by far the largest percentage of solo blocks on the team.
THE IRON GROUP: Three Fighting Irish players have taken the court in all 80 games this season (Justine Stremick, Ashley Tarutis and Danielle Herndon). This group of three can be dubbed the Iron Women for taking the court in every game played this season.
A CONSISTANT CHANGE: The Fighting Irish have now used 10 different lineups this season. Every single one of the lineups combinations has used at least two rookies and sometimes as many as four rookies have been starting at the same time.
A WEEKLY WATCH: These are the individual player both season and career stats to be on the lookout for this week.
* Junior Adrianna Stasiuk with her 18 double figure digs matches this season now has 62 in her career, which is fourth all-time. Her 13 double-doubles this season move her to into third with 37 only five behind Jessica Fiebelkorn for second.
* Junior Ashley Tarutis with 545 assists this season now has 3,268 assists in her career, which is fourth on the Notre Dame assist list having just passed Taryn Collins for fourth place.
* Freshman Christina Kaelin with five 20+-kill matches this season is creeping up on the top-ten all-time at Notre Dame for 20+-kill matches in a career. Three former Notre Dame players (Christi Girton, Kathy Cunningham and Mary Kay Waller) hold the career mark of six 20+-kill matches.
* Senior Danielle Herndon is quickly moving up the Notre Dame digs list. She now has 1,102 career digs, which is good for seventh on the list. Herndon’s 18 times leading the team in digs this season is fifth for Notre Dame just passing Lindsay Treadwell (1998) in a single season. Herndon’s 411 digs this year is eighth on Notre Dame’s list for a single season.
GETTING HER GROOVE BACK: Junior Ashley Tarutis has led the team in assists in 78 of the last 87 matches.
DOUBLING UP: Junior Adrianna Stasiuk has had a double-double in kills and digs in 13 of her 21 matches this season.
AN INTERESTING SITUATION: Notre Dame has switched up their two-setters junior Ashley Tarutis and Jamel Nicholas through the first 23 matches, where each one of them has led the team in assists in at least nine matches this season. Due in part to the two-setter approach no individual setter is ranked among the top-10 in the BIG EAST, but Notre Dame as a team is second (14.44) in the conference in assists.
SENDING THEM BACK: Sophomore Justine Stremick is sixth in the conference with her average of 1.41 blocks per game. Her 20 solo blocks are the second most in the BIG EAST.
A POINT SAVER: Senior Danielle Herndon is second in the conference in digs per game at 5.14. Herndon and the Irish are second the conference in digs per game (17.50).
MAKING A TEAM IMPACT: As a team the Irish have climbed to second in the conference in kills per game at 15.68, despite not having any individual ranked among the top-10.
SHE STANDS ABOVE ALL: Justine Stremick is not only the tallest player on the team at 6’3″, she also has more blocks with 113 this season than her next two closest teammates combined (Adrianna Stasiuk and Kim Kristoff), who total 111 together.
A DIFFERENT SEASON: Since the beginning of conference play the Irish are second in the BIG EAST in hitting percentage (.257). Notre Dame is also fourth service aces per game (1.69). During league play only, Notre Dame is also fifth in kills (16.19).
WE’RE TURNING THE CORNER: Junior Adrianna Stasiuk is fourth in the league with an average of 0.54 service aces per game and 10th in digs per game 3.96 since the start of league play.
FOUR IS ABOUT RIGHT: Notre Dame is a solid 6-1 this season when playing four games; so losing a game somewhere in the first three has ultimately been a key ingredient to success.
LOVING THE HOME COOKING: Several Notre Dame player have played well at the friendly confines of the Joyce Center this season, none better than freshman Christina Kaelin. Kaelin is averaging 4.00 kills per game in home matches this season.
SHE DOESN’T MIND GETTING AWAY: In road games this season junior Adrianna Stasiuk is averaging 3.36 kills per game and 3.36 digs per game.
PACKING THEM IN: Aided by the football pep rally to follow, the attendance for Notre Dame’s match against Marquette on Oct. 6 was listed at 5,743. That crowd was to that point the 15th largest nationally and the second biggest crowd ever for a Notre Dame volleyball match at home. That number of fans is behind only the 8,643 fans that packed the Joyce Center for the Virginia Tech match on Nov. 7, 2003, which was also a pep rally match. The Irish are 13th nationally with their average of 1962 attendees per match.
AN UNFORGETABLE MILESTONE: With the victory over Seton Hall, head coach Debbie Brown has now won 500 career matches in her 22-year career. She becomes only the 28th NCAA volleyball coach to ever attain 500 or more victories in a career.
A MEDIA FRIENDLY TEAM: The Irish have now played seven matches on television this season. Notre Dame dropped its first television match to then No. 13 Missouri on Sept. 2 and also fell to Northern Iowa on Sept. 9. The Irish picked up a TV win against DePaul on Oct. 13 before falling twice to then No. 16 Hawai’i on Oct. 16 and 17. The Irish then fell to St. John’s in three games on Oct. 22. Notre Dame finished up their tough TV schedule with a three game loss at the hands of Louisville on Sunday, Oct. 29.
A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN: Sophomore Justine Stremick controlled the action around the net against Idaho in the Shamrock Invitational. She tallied 14 blocks, including 11 block assists against the Vandals. Her 14 blocks in the four-game match is tied with Mary Kay Waller for the third most blocks by an Irish blocker.
NOTRE DAME IN SEASON OPENERS: With a three game sweep of Bowling Green this season, Notre Dame has won its lidlifter for 16 consecutive season, every year since head coach Debbie Brown arrived on campus. The last time the Irish started the season 0-1 was in 1990, when they lost in four games to Montana in the Washington State Invitational.
NEW LEADERS: With the graduation of both captains from last season, the Notre Dame volleyball team has chosen two new leaders for this season. The new captains are senior Danielle Herndon and junior Adrianna Stasiuk.
WHO’S BACK? The Notre Dame volleyball team returns three starter and seven monogram winners from last year’s squad. Among the returnees, besides Herndon and Stasiuk, is all-time single season assist record holder (1,573) junior setter Ashley Tarutis. Also returning is junior outside hitter Ellen Heintzman, and sophomores Madison Clark, Mallorie Croal and Justine Stremick.
NEW FACES: The Notre Dame volleyball team has reloaded with six highly touted freshman vying for playing time this season. The freshmen this year are Tara Enzweiler, Megan Fesl, Christina Kaelin, Kim Kristoff, Jamel Nicholas and Serinity Phillips.
IRISH ARE THE BIG EAST FAVORITE: For the 11th time in 12 seasons as a member of the BIG EAST, Notre Dame volleyball program was chosen as the preseason favorite in the BIG EAST Conference. The only season Notre Dame was not chosen as the favorite since entering the league was last season’s second place prediction.
HONORS AND SELECTIONS: Junior outside hitter Adrianna Stasiuk and junior setter Ashley Tarutis were both chosen for the preseason All BIG-EAST squad.
Christina Kaelin was named the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week on Aug. 28 and Sept. 4.
Justine Stremick and Christina Kaelin were both named to the Shamrock Invitational All-Tournament Team on Sept. 2.
Danielle Herndon was a member of the UNI Invitational All-Tournament Team, Sept. 9.
Adrianna Stasiuk and Justine Stremick both took home some hardware from the Courtyard by Marriott Classic. Stasiuk was named the Co-Best Attacker of the Tournament while Stremick was named the Best Blocker.
Adrianna Stasiuk was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week for the second time in her career on Sept. 25.
Serinity Phillips was the BIG EAST ROOKIE of the Week on Oct. 9.
HOME FOOTBALL WEEKENDS: For the sixth time in seven years, the Notre Dame volleyball team played matches this season that preceded football pep rallies. The Irish started the home portion of BIG EAST play against Marquette with a 3-1 win on Oct. 6. The second pre-pep rally match also saw Notre Dame come up with a victory over conference rival Connecticut, 3-0 on Oct. 22.
ALL BY HERSELF: Senior Danielle Herndon is the lone senior on the 13-person team this season, which is the first time since 1983 (Terese Henken) that the Irish have only had one senior on the team.
AN EXCEPTIONAL CLASS: The six student-athletes who comprise the freshman class for the University of Notre Dame women’s volleyball team this season – MB Tara Enzweiler, OH/OPP Megan Fesl, OH Christina Kaelin, MB Kim Kristoff, S Jamel Nicholas and OH/OPP Serinity Phillips – earned high praise before even stepping on campus, as two publications ranked the group among the five best in the country. Volleyball magazine had Notre Dame third on its list of top recruiting classes appearing in the August issue, while PrepVolleyball.com placed the Irish fifth on a similar list. These cap off the accolades received by the group, which features four PrepVolleyball.com high school All-Americans, three Volleyball magazine Fab 50 selections, and two Gatorade State Players of the Year for volleyball.
Fesl, Kaelin, and Kristoff were on Volleyball’s Girls Fab 50 list of the top high school seniors in the nation, announced in April. It is the first time since 1997 (Denise Boylan, Christi Girton, and Jo Jameyson) – and just the third time ever – that Notre Dame has had three Fab 50 picks in the same class. The other instance was the 1994 group of Angie Harris, Jaimie Lee, and Carey May. The Irish are one of only five schools that have three or more on the Fab 50 list, joining Penn State (four), Pepperdine (three), Texas A&M (three), and Wisconsin (three). Notre Dame has now had 23 players earn Fab 50 designation since 1990, including at least one in 11 of the last 13 years.
SHE’S THE BOSS: Irish head coach Debbie Brown is now in her 16th season as the leader of the Notre Dame volleyball program. She has led the Irish to a 387-132 mark (.746), while holding an overall record of 504-215 (.701). Brown’s Notre Dame teams have earned 14 consecutive NCAA tournament bids, advancing to the quarterfinals in 1993 and the round of 16 in `94, `95, and `97. Her squads have won 20 or more matches 13 times. A 10-time conference coach of the year and the only five-time BIG EAST coach of the year (4 in the Midwestern Collegiate and one in the Pac-10), she has coached 12 Irish players to All-American honors. The Irish have also claimed 14 regular season conference titles (4 Midwestern Collegiate, 10 BIG EAST) and 13 league tournament titles (4 MCC, 9 BIG EAST) under her watch. A co-captain of the 1980 U.S Olympic volleyball team after winning a pair of national championships and earning All-American honors twice while playing at USC, Brown graduated from Arizona State in 1982 and coached her alma mater from 1983-88, helping the Sun Devils to five NCAA Tournaments.
A NEW MAN IN PLACE: The Fighting Irish in 2006 will have a new assistant coach in place as Greg Smith, formerly the head man at Virginia Tech, has joined the Notre Dame volleyball family this season. Smith compiled a record of 81-94 (.463), including 37-38 (.493) in his five years in command of the Hokies. Smith replaces Robin Davis who took the head position at Boise State. Also joining the volleyball coaching staff, as volunteer assistant is Kevin Lane. Lane is an experienced coach on several levels having most recently spent time at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne, aiding the Mastodons to a runner-up finish at the National Independent University Tournament.
AN IMPRESSIVE STREAK: Notre Dame’s current 14 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is behind only seven other schools nationally (Stanford (25), Penn State (25), UC Santa Barbara (25), Nebraska (24), Long Beach State (19), USC (15) and Florida (15)) for consecutive appearances in the Big Dance.
HOME SWEET HOME: Notre Dame’s Joyce Center has become one of the most difficult places in the nation for road teams to win at, especially since the arrival of head coach Debbie Brown in 1991. Over the last 16 seasons, Notre Dame has posted a 187-32 record (.854) home record. The Irish have put together some impressive winning streaks on the home court, winning 14 or more matches in a row at home on five different occasions, highlighted by a streak of 27 (1993-95), and 36 (2000-02) straight home victories. Notre Dame also won 74 in a row in regular season action against conference opposition from 1991-2004. On 15 different occasions Notre Dame has topped a ranked team at the Joyce Center, including five upsets of teams ranked in the top-10. During the Brown era Notre Dame holds a home record of 178-11 (.942) against unranked teams at home.
CLASS OF THE CONFERENCE: Notre Dame has experienced unprecedented success in the 11 years since joining the league in 1995. The Irish have compiled a 127-10 (.927) regular season mark, highlighted by 10 titles and winning streaks of 45 and 35 consecutive matches. Notre Dame is 71-2 (.972) in BIG EAST regular-season contests in the Joyce Center. The Irish have won nine BIG EAST tournament championships, posting a mark of 22-2 (.917) in the event and reaching the final every season. The Fighting Irish have also dominated the conference awards; winning player-of the-year honors six times and coach-of-the-year five times. On nine occasions an Irish player has been named to the league tournament’s most outstanding player. Also, Notre Dame players have taken home 40 all-conference accolades, including 24 first team honors.
KEEPING UP WITH VOLLEYBALL: For the fastest results of Notre Dame volleyball matches call the Notre Dame sports hotline at (574) 631-3000 and choose #5 and #1. The hotline provides schedules and results information for all Irish varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the match recaps and weekly releases provided on the official athletic website at www.und.com. In addition, media members and fans can be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting sports information assistant Joe Prisco, at prisco.3@nd.edu. All requests for story ideas, interview access, match credentials and further information on Irish volleyball should also be directed to Prisco. Credential and interview requests should be made at least 24 hours in advance.
UP NEXT: The Irish return home for the last two regular season matches of the season as Notre Dame welcomes in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. and West Virginia on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m.