Angela Puente Class: Junior Hometown: Redondo Beach, CA High School: Bishop Montgomery Height: 5-6 Position: Libero/Defensive Specialist Birthdate: 09/27/1989

Solid defensive player who gives team flexibility and depth ... talented and smooth passer ... great communicator ... also has tremendous leaping and hitting skills ... gained invaluable experienced throughout her first two years with the Irish, and looks to develop into a consistent contributor.

AS A SOPHOMORE (2008): Played in 50 sets and 23 matches for the Irish on the season ... totaled 67 digs, 14 assists and a pair of aces ... five digs against Eastern Washington (Sept. 5) ... had two assists in two sets played versus Liberty (Sept. 19) during the Golden Dome Invitational ... recorded seven digs and two assists against both USF (Sept. 26) and Georgetown (Sept. 28) ... tallied three assists, six digs, fielded each of the 18 serves that came her way and even stepped up for a block at Louisville (Oct. 4) ... her efforts helped the Irish post the first sweep on the Cardinals' home floor since the first-ever meeting between the two programs on Oct. 11, 1986 ... it was just the fourth sweep over Louisville for Notre Dame in the 23-match series history ... had a season-high 10 digs, two assists and an ace against Syracuse (Nov. 1) ... scooped three shots against Louisville (Nov. 23) in the BIG EAST Championship finale ... one of eight Irish players that helped win the Collegiate Beach Volleyball Challenge at Fiesta On Siesta Key team title.

AS A FRESHMAN (2007): Started 20 matches while seeing action at the libero spot in 98 games ... second on the team with 276 digs (2.82/set) ... also notched 18 assists, four service aces and two kills ... set a career high with 18 digs in just her second match with the Irish, a four-setter with No. 7 Florida (Nov. 26) ... later matched that total against USF (Nov. 4) ... recorded double-digit digs in 16 contests ... totaled 10 matches with a perfect serving pct. ... her first collegiate kill came against Florida International (Sept. 1) during the Tiger Invitational hosted by Missouri ... had two aces and eight digs against the Golden Panthers ... one of four Irish players with 15+ digs against Alabama (Sept. 8) ... she anchored a Notre Dame defense that posted 80 digs against the Crimson Tide ... put together a streak of six consecutive matches with 12+ digs (Sept. 7-Sept. 16) ... had 17 digs against Villanova (Sept. 30) and 15 at Marquette (Oct. 12) ... finished the season with 11 digs, two assists and one kill at Tennessee (Nov. 23).

THE PUENTE FILE: Aided her high school team, Bishop Montgomery (Calif.), to conference titles in 2003 and 2006 ... team captain as a senior for the nationally-ranked Knights, who advanced to the quarterfinals of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) playoffs in 2006 ... earned MVP, all-conference and all-city honors in 2006 ... registered 210 kills and 313 digs en route to becoming the Del Ray League MVP in 2006 ... played club ball for South Bay ... led the Hot Shots to a silver medal at the 2002 Junior Olympics ... member of Habitat for Humanity Club, California Scholarship Federation and Concordia Service Club ... her grandfather, Donald Puente, played football Arizona State ... played pitcher and leftfield for high school softball team as a junior ... daughter of Suzanne and Ronald Puente ... has a younger sister, Teresa ... last name is pronounced Pwen-TAY ... born Sept. 27, 1989 ... sports the same #11 as Jessica Fiebelkorn (1989-92), the first Irish player to reach 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career ... enrolled in the College of Engineering ... studying aerospace engineering ... for the past two summers she has worked on a classified satellite program with Northrop Grumman.

Puente's Career Statistics