Sept. 21, 2000
The 24th-ranked Notre Dame volleyball team (8-3) and #22 Loyola Marymount (8-2) engaged in a four-game thriller at the Joyce Center, Thursday night. After two hours and 40 minutes, the Irish came away with a hard-fought match victory (15-9, 16-14, 15-17, 16-14) over the visiting Lions. The victory is the second the Irish have enjoyed over a ranked opponent in the Joyce Center this season. Notre Dame knocked off #15 BYU in five games Sept. 2.
The Joyce Center crowd witnessed a number of Notre Dame and personal records fall. Irish junior opposite Kristy Kreher set the university record for kills in a four-game match with 32, eclipsing the 31 Jaimie Lee totaled in 1997 versus Wisconsin in the 1997 NCAA tournament.
Senior setter Denise Boylan, who helped the Irish post a .368 hitting percentage in the final game, set a new Notre Dame record for assists in a four-game match with 84. That total also surpasses Boylan’s career-high of 83 assists versus Illinois State in 1997.
The match began with the Irish earning a 15-9 game-one victory. Senior Jo Jameyson started her evening off with a kill and three blocks in the opening game. She would tally 11 kills and seven blocks in the match. Jameyson was just one of five Irish players with double-figure kills in the match.
The Irish and Lions fought back-and-forth throughout game two and the rest of the match. Notre Dame built a 10-6 lead on the strength of four kills from Kreher, but Loyola came roaring back with eight straight points. Lion OH Sarah McFarland, who hails from near-by Michigan City, Ind., had three of her match-high 45 kills in the point streak.
Loyola had the Irish at game point, but two kills from junior Marcie Bomhack and a block by Jameyson earned a game-two victory for the Irish 16-14.
Game three played out much the same way as its predecessors, but this time LMU built a 13-9 lead, only to see the Irish come back to tie the game at 14-14. Both teams would have an opportunity at game-point, but and ace by Loyola’s setter Nicole Oelhman gave the Lions the game three victory 16-14.
The deciding game became a test of wills for both teams. LMU built a 13-8 lead and a fifth game under rally-scoring rules seemed likely, but the Irish dug deep to rally back and earn the match victory. The Notre Dame defense played the biggest part in the rally, scoring three blocks by four different players. Senior Christi Girton and Bomhack also combined for three kills to close out the victory.
Five Irish players ended up tying or setting personal-bests in the match. Kreher’s 32 kills and 27 digs are both career-highs. It is also the third game of the season Kreher has totaled over 20 kills. Bomhack’s 25 digs, Girton’s 23 kills, and Boylan’s 84 assists were all career marks as well. Junior MB Malinda Goralski tied a career-high with 15 kills.
The Irish will be back in action tomorrow night (Friday, Sept. 22) when the 2000 Golden Dome Invitational begins. It will be the third volleyball tournament the Joyce Center has hosted this season (Shamrock Invitational, Sept. 1-3 and adidas Invitational, Sept. 8-10). #4 Colorado State will meet Loyola Marymount at 5 p.m., followed by the Irish and the Wyoming Gowgirls at 7 p.m.