ND VOLLEYBALL: Offense, defense take turns to bring home victories
NOAH AMSTADTER
Sports Editor
The Irish excelled both on offense and defense this weekend — just not at the same time. The Notre Dame volleyball team improved to 10-0 in the Big East with wins at Pittsburgh and West Virginia, but the similarities between the two matches end with the team in the win column.
At Pittsburgh on Sunday, the Irish swept the Panthers 30-27, 30-24, 30-22 thanks to a .495 hitting percentage. Senior opposite Kristy Kreher led the Irish with 13 kills in 17 attempts for a .765 percentage.
But Kreher wasn't the only Irish player hitting accurately and often. Senior Malinda Goralski had 10 kills in 19 attempts for a .474 percentage while Kim Fletcher hit .563 and Marcie Bomhack .400.
"She was really aggressive right from the beginning," Irish head coach Debbie Brown said of Kreher. "I thought Kristen [Kinder] set a great match. She really kept them off guard and they really couldn't key on any one player."
But Pittsburgh managed to stay close with an effective offense led by sophomore Wendy Hatlestad, who led the Panthers with 23 kills on a .302 hitting percentage. Despite those high totals, Brown was happy with her team's effort against Hatlestad.
"I thought we did a pretty good job," Brown said. "I know that that's a lot of kills and a pretty decent percentage for an outside hitter but she's definitely their go-to player."
Gini Ullery added 10 kills for Pittsburgh. The Panthers hit .257 in game one, .283 in game two and only .171 in game three en route to victory. Notre Dame totaled 12 blocks for the match, including five by Goralski.
"Our blocking was good both [days]," Brown said. "We averaged four blocks a game for both matches."
While the Irish offense proved quick and effective Sunday, it was hardly as reliable one day earlier and 70 miles south when Notre Dame took on West Virginia in Morgantown, W.V.
The Irish hit only .219 in the four-game victory, including .188 and .162 marks in the final two games. But somehow Notre Dame topped West Virginia 30-26, 24-30, 30-27, 30-20.
A strong Irish defense held West Virginia to .038 hitting for the match. The Mountaineers spiked down 42 kills in the match, but committed 36 attack errors. Notre Dame totaled 16 blocks and defensive specialist Janie Aldrete had 17 digs — her ninth double-digit dig match of the season.
On the offensive end, four Irish players reached double-digit kills. Bomhack led the way with 15 kills. Kreher and Goralski added 13 each while freshman Emily Loomis had 11 kills.
Notre Dame struggled the most against West Virginia with serving. The Irish committed 21 service errors, a number they cut down to six on Sunday.
"They weren't very strong offensively," Brown said. "But we didn't make them have to earn their points."
The Mountaineer offense was led by Dimitra Havriluk's 15 kills, but Havriluk committed 12 hitting errors and finished on a .068 mark.
All Sports Stories for Monday, November 5, 2001
