ND Volleyball: Irish take two Big East wins
By MATT LOZAR
Sports Writer
Setting the tone early in a road match can quickly deflate the home team's chances of upsetting the defending league champion.
The Notre Dame volleyball team did just that this weekend in sweeping two road victories.
On Saturday, the Irish (13-3, 4-0 in the Big East) beat Rutgers 30-16, 30-24, 30-19 and Sunday defeated Seton Hall 30-14, 30-19, 30-25.
"We actually had a pretty decent weekend," libero Keara Coughlin said. "Our goal was to play strong and consistent, no matter who showed up on the other side of the court, whether it was Rutgers or Seton Hall."
Against the Scarlet Knights, the Irish compiled a .571 hitting percentage in cruising to a game one victory.
Over the three games, the Irish hit a season-best .418 and collected 48 kills.
Outside hitter Emily Loomis led Notre Dame with 13 kills and only committed one hitting error.
Freshman Lauren Kelbley contributed 11 kills and five blocks while not committing an error.
Keara Coughlin recorded a match-high 16 digs. As a team, Notre Dame amassed 12 blocks.
Outside hitter Jessica Kinder had six kills, 11 digs and three blocks—two solo. Middle blocker Lauren Brewster also had six kills while junior Katie Neff had seven kills along with three blocks.
Rutgers outside hitter Shayla Bush led both teams with 16 kills. In Game 1, the Scarlet Knights (11-5, 0-1) hit only .061 and for the match they hit .128.
Notre Dame coach Debbie Brown was able to give her regulars some rest against Seton Hall as 14 players saw game action. Freshman Carolyn Cooper had three kills and junior Christa Moen had three digs.
The Irish hit only .565 in the first game and .362 for the match and had 47 kills.
The team wanted to reestablish its status as the team to beat in the conference.
"We wanted to start off really strong and get the respect back from the coaches and players in the Big East," Coughlin said.
Loomis led the Irish again, this time with 14 kills. She tied setter Kristen Kinder for the team-high in digs with seven.
Jessica Kinder played at the libero position against the Pirates instead of her usual position at outside hitter.
Kelbley continued her recent strong play with eight kills and a .571 hitting percentage.
Notre Dame's defense played well for the second consecutive day holding Seton Hall's hitters to a .113 percentage.
Neff had five kills and six blocks — including three solo.
Leading Seton Hall (8-12, 0-2) was outside hitter Jenna Myers with 10 kills. Middle blocker Alyson Furch had three blocks for the Pirates.
Notre Dame's two wins this weekend extended the team's Big East regular winning streak to 37 games and overall Big East winning streak to 30.
All Sports Stories for Monday, October 7, 2002
