Printer-Friendly Format     E-mail this article     Emily Loomis led Notre Dame with 12 kills in the victory over St. John's, also chipping in a career-high seven blocks.

Irish blocking rules the net once again while team offensive effort puts away the Red Storm.

Nov. 9, 2001

Box Score

Nov. 9, 2001

The University of Notre Dame volleyball team moved one step closer to its sixth regular season BIG EAST Conference undefeated record with a 3-0 sweep (30-8, 30-24, 30-22) over St. John's in the Joyce Center on Friday evening.

The Irish are now 11-0 (17-5 overall) in the conference and has a chance to become the first BIG EAST volleyball team to post 12 league victories in a season with a victory over Seton Hall on Sunday (2 p.m. at the Joyce Center).

It was another superb blocking performance by the Irish in the victory, as the home team ended up with 20 team blocks for its eighth consecutive match with 10 or more team stuffs. Senior middle blocker Malinda Goralski led the way with 11 block assists, matching her career-high number. Freshman Emily Loomis also had a career-best effort with seven blocks, while senior Kristy Kreher added six.

Notre Dame was playing its first home match in over 26 days, but came out focused and prepared in the first game of the match. Before the home team was able to react, the Irish were out in front 13-1 behind the strength of four Loomis kills. Notre Dame would end up holding St. John's to a -.313 hitting percentage in the first game, while the Irish recorded a .520 mark (15 kills, two errors, 25 attacks).

St. John's would not be able to mount much of an attack the rest of the match, as the Irish cruised to a three-game victory with most of its roster seeing significant action. Sophomore Katie Neff started game two and put the Irish on track for the game victory with two early kills. Freshman Kelly Corbett also saw extensive action in game three, recording two kills and three block assists. The Irish were able to keep the defensive pressure on the Red Storm as well, holding the visiting team to -.101 hitting.