VOLLEYBALL: Irish stunned in two weekend losses
By MATT LOZAR
Sports Writer
The apocalypse is upon us.
Heading into this weekend, the Notre Dame volleyball team had lost two regular season conference matches since it joined the Big East in 1995, winning 87 of 89 conference matches.
Now, with losses to Miami and Virginia Tech, that total stands at four.
The Irish were unable to complete their hopes of an undefeated conference season with a 30-25, 30-28, 25-30, 22-30, 15-7 loss Friday at Miami.
On Sunday, the Irish couldn't rebound and lost at Virginia Tech 30-27, 37-35, 30-27.
After dropping game one to the Hurricanes, the Irish (21-7, 11-2 in the Big East) had a chance to tie the match at one game each, leading 26-22 in game two.
The Hurricanes took advantage of three Irish errors in the final 10 points and won the game by two.
In game three, the Irish got on track, hitting .429 for the game, compared to .128 for the Hurricanes (24-4, 10-3). Outside hitter Emily Loomis had 5 kills in the game the Irish won by five.
Miami continued to struggle with its hitting in game four, recording a .105 percentage in game four. The Irish fell behind 8-2 early in the game, but then went on an eight-point run and took command of the game, winning by eight.
Deciding game five was never close, as Miami scored the first eight points, using three kills from Hurricane outside hitter Valeria Tipiana, who recorded a match-high 28 kills. The Irish hit .000 for the game and lost their first Big East match since the 1999 Big East Tournament championship, a stretch of 36 contests.
Loomis led the Irish with 18 kills. Freshman middle blocker Lauren Kelbley continued her accurate hitting with a .481 hitting percentage. For the match, Notre Dame hit better than Miami — .243 to .186.
Middle blocker Lauren Brewster had 11 blocks. Libero Keara Coughlin led the Irish with 17 digs.
Virginia Tech (20-10, 10-3) needed a win to qualify for the Big East postseason tournament and came out determined to hand the Irish their second straight loss.
No team took more than a four-point lead in game one and the Irish were within one at 27-26. The Hokies called a timeout and won three of the next four points to win game one.
The Irish battled back from a 27-24 deficit to force game two into extra points. In a game featuring 13 ties and eight game points, the Hokies pulled out the game winning the last three points, and taking the game 37-35.
The Hokies left no doubt in game three, grabbing the early 11-4 lead. The Irish battled back and came within one at 28-27, but the Hokies utilized a timeout to their advantage again to win game three and the match.
Kelbley led the Irish with a .609 hitting percentage and 15 kills. As a team, the Irish hit a disappointing .154.
In next weekend's Big East Tournament, No. 1 seed Notre Dame will play No. 4 Connecticut at 1:00 p.m. Saturday. No. 2 Virginia Tech faces No. 3 Miami in the other semifinals. The winners play Sunday for the title.
All Sports Stories for Monday, November 18, 2002
