Irish sweep Shamrock Invitational to begin season undefeated
By: MATT LOZAR
Sports Writer
Lauren Brewster and Lauren Kelbley missed the memo that freshmen are supposed to be nervous and tentative in their first collegiate action.
Both first-year players played like seasoned veterans and were named to the All-Tournament team as the Irish swept the Shamrock Invitational this weekend at the Joyce Center.
"[The freshmen] did really well," Irish coach Debbie Brown said. "Every match they were very poised, and they did a great job. Both Lauren Kelbley and Lauren Brewster were very strong at the net blocking for us. I couldn't have asked for anything more from the two of them."
In Sunday's championship match against Cal-Poly, the Irish had trouble breaking away from the Mustangs before finally pulling ahead 30-26, 30-28 and 30-23.
"I think they played a little bit better than they had against the other teams, and I think we made a few mistakes that weren't characteristic," Brown said. "It was good for us that they pushed us a little bit, and we had to make some plays to stay in it for the whole time."
In Game 2, the Irish again had trouble finishing the Mustangs. After taking leads of 22-15 and 29-25, Notre Dame finally ended the match on a kill from Kelbley. She had eight kills on Sunday and 34 for the weekend.
Even though Cal-Poly had already lost once to Wisconsin-Milwaukee — a team Notre Dame had already beaten — the Irish knew Cal-Poly wanted to keep them away from the title.
"We knew [Cal-Poly] would come out here to beat us," tournament MVP Kristin Kinder said. "They had an off-weekend up until they played us, and we knew they were coming out to get us. We were ready for that."
Cal-Poly showed more persistence overall in Game 3. Notre Dame took an 18-9 lead before Cal-Poly won seven straight points to pull within two of the lead. The Irish then went on to win five straight points and put the Mustangs away for good.
Junior Katie Neff and Kinder both set career highs in kills with 11 and seven, respectively.
In the season-opener and first game of the tournament, Notre Dame was victorious over Wisconsin-Milwaukee 30-26, 30-17 and 30-26. Kelbley had 12 kills while Brewster had 10.
Sophomore Emily Loomis, who was also named to the all-tournament team, collected a career-high nine blocks in the contest.
On Saturday, the Irish defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats 30-19, 30-24, and 30-23. Kelbley and Brewster combined for 20 kills. For the second straight match, the Irish posted 15 team blocks.
"I thought we played pretty well," Brown said. "It's always tough when you come into the first weekend and don't know a lot about the opponents you are playing, but I think the team gelled pretty well together."
Junior tri-captain Kinder felt the same way.
"I think we came out and had chemistry right away, and that made it easy to play," Kinder said. "We got our jitters out in the beginning. We got better each game."
Three victories this weekend extended Notre Dame's home-court winning streak to 25 games. The school record is 27.
All Sports Stories for Monday, September 2, 2002
