Kristy Kreher led three Irish players in double-digit kills with 18 as 20th-ranked Notre Dame rolled past Illinois State 15-5, 15-11, 15-11 in volleyball action from Redbird Arena Tuesday.
The Redbirds, 8-6, suffered their third loss in five matches while the Irish, 14-4, grabbed their fourth straight victory.
Notre Dame took a 7-6 lead in one of the Midwests closest and hardest-fought volleyball series. Before Wednesday, the previous nine matches between the Irish and Redbirds all had gone at least four games. This time, ISU out-blocked the Irish 12-4, but were hout-hit .315 to .178 and out-dug 59-46. Notre Dame had 13 service aces to ISUs 10.
Poor passing and sloppy service defense had as much to do with the Redbirds 15-5 loss in the opening game as the Irish did. Notre Dame tallied nearly half its points in the opening game on Redbird hitting errors as ISU was out-hit by the Irish .303 to .097. Notre Dame also notched six opening-game points on service aces.
Redbird coach Sharon Dingman thought her teams passing problems contributed.
When we passed well, we were as good or better than Notre Dame, said Dingman. Notre Dame is an experienced team (five seniors) and they played like an experienced team. They showed great poise in the face of our block and they showed maturity by staying with their game plan and not letting the crowd get into it.
A quick talk from Dingman in between games one and two payed immediate dividends as the Birds jumped out to a 7-2 lead in game two on the strength of a rejuvinated blocking front led by Megan Stephenson and Kendra Haselhorst. But ISU hit a rut in the road, serving 10 times for point No. 8 as ND took an 11-7 lead before prevailing 15-11 in the 49-side-out, 40-minute game, Kristy Kreher and Christi Girton had 7 kills each as the Irish recovered.
We made some critical mistakes when we were ahead in game two, said Dingman. We came out well even though they won the first game rather easily, but we got to 7-2 and mistakes killed us.
The Birds once again raced out to an early 3-1 in game three lead only to see the Irish tally seven straight points to grab an 8-3 lead. The Birds bounced back with an 8-5 run of their own to shrink the Irish lead to 13-11 but it was too little too late as Notre Dame closed out the match with a 15-11 victory in game three.
For the match, Illinois State served consecutive points only once while the Irish owned the service game, notching 13 service aces. Sparked by Kreher with 18 kills, Girton with 17 and Marice Bomhack with 14, Notre Dame out-hit ISU .315 to .178 for the match. Girton and Kreher also played a little defense in the match as well, notching 17 and 16 digs respectivley.
Haselhorst led the Birds with 13 kills and Staci Boyce chipped in with nine.
The Redbirds continue a four-match homestand with 7 p.m. matches Friday and Saturday against Creighton and Drake, respectively, in Redbird Arena.
