Sept. 1, 2001
The 20th-ranked University of Notre Dame volleyball team (2-0) won its second match of the Shamrock Invitational in three games (30-17, 30-20, 30-16) over Florida Atlantic (0-2) at the Joyce Center Saturday afternoon. The Irish will return to action tonight at 7 p.m. against Idaho (2-0) for the tournament title.
Notre Dame featured a balanced attack against the Owls, as five Irish players registered five or more kills. Senior Kristy Kreher (Birmingham, Mich.) led the team with nine kills, while adding six digs and six blocks. Middle blocker Malinda Goralski (Missouri City, Texas), coming off a career-best 18 kills last night against Southwest Texas, added seven kills and eight blocks to lead the Irish defensive effort.
All 13 Irish players made an appearance in the match and nine registered at least one kill. Sophomore setter Kristen Kinder (Fresno, Calif.) had a great outing in just her second start at setter, helping the team post a .356 hitting percentage for the match while accumulating 35 assists, 10 digs, five kills, three blocks and two aces.
Not just dominate on offense against Florida Atlantic, Notre Dame held the Owls to a .020 hitting percentage while posting 12 team blocks. Goralski led the team with eight, while Kreher had six and sophomore Kim Fletcher (St. Louis, Mo.) added four.
Ashley Bodily led Florida Atlantic with seven kills as the Owls dropped to 0-2 in the tournament. They will face Southwest Texas State (0-2), who lost in three games to Idaho earlier in the day, at 4:30 p.m. to continue the tournament.