Oct. 16, 2005
For the 18th time, Illinois State and Notre Dame are meeting in a volleyball match when the Irish, the No. 10 team in the nation, play the Redbirds are 7 p.m. Monday in Redbird Arena. It's the sixth time that Notre Dame has been nationally ranked when playing Illinois State. Redbird head coach Sharon Dingman thought, before the season started, this might be the best Notre Dame team ever.
"I said before the season started that this might be Notre Dame's best team," said Dingman, whose Redbirds are 11-6 after beating Indiana State Saturday for their seventh win in eight starts. "They are big and have a lot of weapons."
They also have an impressive record: 15-1 after hitting .522 as a team in a 3-0 win at DePaul Saturday in Chicago. Notre Dame has beaten three nationally-ranked teams this season: Florida, Texas and Southern California. The Irish have won eight in a row and are 6-0 atop the Big East Conference.
But Dingman is confident in her team, which limited Indiana State to just 52 points--the fewest allowed by an Illinois State team since the 30-point game began in 2001--in a 3-0 victory on Saturday.
"I think we can give Notre Dame a battle, and I think we can push them to five games," said Dingman. "Then, anything can happen. I think we have some weapons to fight them with."
A strong offense and a deep bench have been two big weapons for the Redbirds of late. ISU has averaged 16.56 kills per game during its current five-match winning streak. Dingman has used 12 or more players (she has 14 on the active roster) in 13 of 17 matches this season. Nine different Redbirds had at least one kill against Indiana State.
Redbird senior Emily Kabbes thinks Dingman's lineup shuffling gets the most out of her team.
"We are all confident in each other," said Kabbes, who joined her sister, current Redbird assistant coach Jenny Fuente and Kendra Haselhorst as the only three players in Redbird history with 400 career block assists in the win over Indiana State. "I think it's good that Sharon can put so many different weapons on the court."
Freshman setter Erin Lindsey, No. 22 in the nation in set assists per game, has a lot to do with that productive offense. In the three most recent matches, she has set for 13.20 kills per game and called her own number 18 times for 14 kills --- a .778 hitting percentage.
Led by all-American Lauren Brewsters, Notre Dame is a defensive juggernaut. The Irish are No. 7 in the nation in blocks per game and No. 10 in digs. The Irish can hit, too. Their 15.81 kills per game are paced by Brewster, who averages 4.23, and Lauren Kelbley, who averages 3.86 per game. Since a 3-2 loss to Louisiana State, the Irish have won 16 of 18 games.
The match will be the first live streamed intercollegiate event at Illinois State, with the match to be shown on the Redbird web site, GoRedbirds.com.
