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Women's Volleyball Finishes Second At Shamrock Invitational

Irish head to South Carolina next to face No. 18 Clemson, Kentucky.

Sept. 9, 1999

Notre Dame Second At The Shamrock Invitational
The Irish notched two, three-game wins over Northwestern and Louisville, but fell to sixth-ranked Pacific, 0-3, to finish second at the Shamrock Invitational, held September 3-5 at the Joyce Center at Notre Dame. Pacific, which vaulted into the nation's number one spot in this week's AVCA poll, won the tournament with a perfect 3-0 record.

Shamrock Invitational Final Standings

1. Pacific       3-0
2. Notre Dame    2-1
3. Louisville    1-2
4. Northwestern  0-3

DAY ONE (Sept.3)
Match One

Pacific      15 15 15
Louisville    8  6  1

Match Two

Notre Dame   15 15 15
Northwestern  8 9 8

DAY TWO (Sept. 4)
Match One

Louisville   15 15 15 15
Northwestern 12 11 17 11

Match Two

Pacific      15 15 15
Notre Dame   10 10  9

DAY THREE
Match One

Pacific      15 15 15
Northwestern  8  6  6

Match Two

Notre Dame   16 15 15
Louisville   14 13  4

Leffers, Boylan Earn Shamrock Honors
Notre Dame senior Mary Leffers (Tampa, Fla.) and junior Denise Boylan (Lisle, Ill.) were voted to the seven-member Shamrock Invitational all-tournament team.

It was the second such honor for both players as Leffers earned Shamrock all-tournament honors in 1997 and Boylan did so last season in 1998.

Leffers led the Irish in kills in two of the three matches, while Boylan had a double-double against Northwestern (37 assists, 12 digs) and contributed 43 assists versus Pacific and 33 against Louisville.

The other five players selected to the all-tournament squad included Pacific's Elsa Stegemann, the tournament MVP, setter Tanja Dimitrijevic and Tracy Chambers and Louisville's Kelly McClain and Sonja Percan.

Shamrock Invitational

All-Tournament Team Denise Boylan Notre Dame Mary Leffers Notre Dame Tracy Chambers Pacific Tanja Dimitrijevic Pacific Kelly McClain Louisville Sonja Percan Louisville

MVP - Elsa Stegemann Pacific

Leffers named BIG EAST Player of the Week
Senior Mary Leffers has been named BIG EAST Co-Player of the Week for her strong performances in Notre Dame's four matches last week. Leffers, a middle blocker, shares the honors this week with Georgetown's Yulia Vtyurina

Leffers led the Irish to a 3-1 record last week, including a second-place finish at the Shamrock Invitational at Notre Dame, where the team notched wins over Northwestern and 1998 NCAA round of 16 participant Louisville, both in three games. Leffers tallied team-highs in kills in three of last week's four matches, which also included a win over Valparaiso last Wednesday.

For the week, the Notre Dame team captain recorded 47 kills (3.92/game) on .406 hitting to go along with 1.08 digs per game and a team-best 1.58 blocks per game.

Leffers was an unanimous selection to the seven-member Shamrock Invitational all-tournament team and registered her 800th career kill in the team's only loss of the week to sixth-ranked Pacific.

1999 Irish Open Season With a 3-0 Win
Senior captain Mary Leffers' 10 kills led the Notre Dame volleyball team (1-0) to a 15-4, 15-5, 15-2 win over visiting Valparaiso (0-1) in both teams' 1999 season-openers at the Joyce Center Wednesday night. The win was Notre Dame's ninth-straight in season-openers, making the Irish a perfect 9-0 since Debbie Brown took over as head coach in 1991.

Notre Dame junior setter Denise Boylan had 27 assists, while sophomore Marcie Bomhack (Waukesha, Wis.) added seven kills on .463 hitting with three digs and four blocks. Sophomore Kristy Kreher (Birmingham, Mich.) was second on the team with eight kills and freshman Keara Coughlin (Chicago, Ill.), making her first career start, tallied seven digs and three aces to lead the Irish.

Freshmen Contribution
Just four matches into the season, the Irish have already gotten key contributions from the freshman class. Keara Coughlin has started in the back row in three of the four matches, compiling a kill, five assists, six aces and 21 digs. Fellow classmate and defensive specialist Janie Alderte (Santa Clara, Calif.) has play in eight games with two aces and 14 digs.

We'll play them in three
So far in 1999, the Irish have played all four of their matches in three games. The team opened the season by beating Valparaiso, 15-4, 15-5, 15-2, and then downing Northwestern, 15-8, 15-9, 15-8. The team's only loss of the season versus Pacific was also in three games, 15-10, 15-10, 15-9, while the Irish bounced back with a 16-14, 15-13, 15-4 win over Louisville on September 5.

Still Among The Nation's Best
Notre Dame received the 30th-most votes (37) in the first weekly release of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)/USA Today national poll on September 6.

The Irish, meanwhile, maintained their 20th ranking in the Volleyball Magazine poll.

The BIG Orange Bash
The team's first road matches of the year will be against Kentucky and Clemson at the Big Orange Bash in Clemson, S.C., September 11-12. This is Notre Dame's first trip to the state of South Carolina.

Scouting the Clemson Tigers
Clemson (5-0) is coming off a huge weekend in which it beat 16th-ranked Texas A&M and then #22 Michigan State both in three games to win the Michigan State Invitational.

The Tigers, under head coach Jolene Jordan Hoover, return all six of its starters from last year's squad, which went 22-11 and lost to national runner-up Penn State in the second round of the NCAAs.

Clemson is led by middle blocker Cindy Stern, who has averaged 1.27 blocks per game, 2.20 digs per game and 4.60 kills a game on .534 hitting. She will be helped offensively by senior outside hitter Alison Coday, who is averaging four kills a game. Running the Tigers offense is freshman setter Jessi Betcher (15.45 assists/game).

Scouting the Ketucky Wildcats
The Wildcats are also on a roll to open the 1999 season, having won all four of its matches and captured the team title at the Hokie Volleyball Classic at Virginia Tech.

Under head coach Jona Braden, Kentucky has won matches versus Eastern Kentucky (3-1), Northern Illinois (3-1), Virginia Tech (3-1) and Villanova (3-0). The Wildcats finished their 1999 campaign with a 16-14 mark overall and a 6-8 record in the SEC.

Katie Eiserman leads the Wildcats with 51 kills and 43 digs, while middle blocker Jaclyn Homan was named the Hokie Classic Tournament MVP.

On Top Of The BIG EAST
The Notre Dame volleyball team will begin its season as the favorite to claim its fifth-consecutive BIG EAST conference title in a poll of the conference's 12 coaches released August 12.

The Irish, who finished their 1998 season with a 18-13 record overall and a 9-2 mark in the BIG EAST, received 119 of the possible 121 points, including nine of the 12 first-place votes. Notre Dame edged out second-place Georgetown, who garnered three first-place votes, by seven points for the top spot. Following the Hoyas is Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, West Virginia, St. John's, Syracuse, Villanova, Seton Hall, Boston College and Providence. BIG EAST regular season play begins for the Irish at home at 8 p.m. on October 1 versus West Virginia.

Boylan, Girton Honored
The BIG EAST also released the coaches' selections for the six-member preseason all-conference squad. Notre Dame is represented by junior setter Denise Boylan (Lisle, Ill.), last year's preseason player of the year, and junior outside hitter Christi Girton (Muncie, Ind.), who made the 1998 all-BIG EAST second team.

Other members of the team include Georgetown's Yulia Vtyurina and Kiran Gill, Rutgers' Lola Opadiran and Pittsburgh's Paula Zemrowski. Vtyurina was selected as the preseason player of the year.

Game Change
The Notre Dame-Illinois State match is listed incorrectly on the team's 1999 schedule card. The match will take place at 7 p.m. on November 3 at the Joyce Center.

SPORTCOURT

Hits The Joyce
Opponents will find something a bit different this year when they visit the Joyce Center at Notre Dame.

Starting this fall, the Irish will be playing on a SPORT COURT, a synthetic playing surface, used at the NCAA championships and by the U.S. national teams.

Head Coach Debbie Brown
Notre Dame head coach Debbie Brown begins her ninth season at Notre Dame and her 15th overall. Brown has compiled a mark of 211-72 with the Irish and has a career record of 328-155, which includes six years at the helm of her alma mater, Arizona State.

In recognition of Brown's contribution to the University, Notre Dame's National Monogram Club bestowed upon her an honorary monogram at the annual Monogram Club awards dinner in June 1999. She joins an elite group of six current Irish coaches to have been awarded an honorary monogram.

Notre Dame Third In Student-Athlete Graduation Rates
The University of Notre Dame has been ranked third in overall student-athlete graduation rates among the nation's Division I-A colleges and universities, according to the latest annual report compiled by the NCAA The 1999 NCAA Graduation-Rates Report, the ninth such survey issued by the association, covers students enrolled between 1989 and 1992 at 312 Division I institutions, including 112 in Division I-A.

Notre Dame graduated a four-year average of 88 percent of its student-athletes, third only to Duke and Northwestern at 91 and 90 percent, respectively. The national average for Division I-A schools is 58 percent.

Notre Dame graduated 85 percent of all men and 94 percent of all women competing in varsity athletics.

The Sporting News Ranks Notre Dame Third In Survey Of Top Athletic Departments
The Notre Dame athletic department has been ranked third in a major survey by The Sporting News of 112 U.S. colleges who participate in NCAA Division I sports in both football and men's basketball.

Notre Dame finished behind only Penn State and North Carolina in the survey, which graded the departments on various standards ranging from on-field to academic performance.

1999 Schedule

9/1 Valparaiso W, 3-0

Shamrock Invitational (Notre Dame, Ind.) 9/3 Northwestern W, 3-0 (#6 Pacific 3, Louisville 0) 9/4 #6 Pacific L, 0-3 (Louisville 3, Northwestern 1) 9/5 Louisville W, 3-0 (#6 Pacific 3, Northwestern 0)

BIG Orange Bash (at Clemson, S.C.) 9/11 vs. Kentucky 2 p.m. 9/12 at #18 Clemson 2 p.m.

9/18 Miami (Ohio) 7 p.m. 9/24 at Wyoming 7 p.m. 9/25 at Colorado State 7 p.m. 10/1 West Virginia* 8 p.m. 10/3 Pittsburgh* 2 p.m. 10/5 Michigan 7 p.m. 10/9 at Rutgers* 2 p.m. 10/10 at Seton Hall* 1 p.m. 10/17 USPV (Exhib.) 2 p.m. 10/19 at BYU 7 p.m. 10/20 at Utah 7 p.m. 10/22 St John's* 7 p.m. 10/24 Connecticut* 2 p.m. 10/30 at Boston College* 2 p.m. 10/31 at Providence* 2 p.m. 11/3 Illinois State 7 p.m. 11/6 Syracuse* 1 p.m. 11/13 at Villanova* 1 p.m. 11/14 at Georgetown* 1 p.m. BIG EAST Championships 11/19-21 @Pittsburgh, Pa. TBA

Community Bankers Classic (Stockton, Calif.) 11/26 vs. Washington St. 5 p.m. 11/27 vs. Pacific/Sac. St. TBA

12/2-5 NCAA First/Second (TBA) 12/9-12 NCAA Regionals (TBA) 12/16 NCAA Semifinals (University of Hawaii) 11/18 NCAA Finals (University of Hawaii)

All times local *BIG EAST Conference Matches

AVCA/USA Today Poll

Rk  School          ('99 record)  Points (1st)
 1. Pacific            (5-0)       1,455 (34)
 2. Penn State         (4-1)       1,364 (8)
 3. Hawai'i            (2-0)       1,359 (9)
 4. Long Beach State   (4-0)       1,332 (8)
 5. Nebraska           (4-2)       1,242
 6. Florida            (4-2)       1,190
 7. Stanford           (1-1)       1,162 (1)
 8. Texas              (2-0)       1,059
 9. UC Santa Barbara   (2-0)       1,005
10. UCLA               (2-0)       1,004
11. Pepperdine         (2-0)         842
12. BYU                (2-1)         778
13. Wisconsin          (3-1)         656
14. Ohio State         (1-0)         597
15. Arizona            (4-1)         595
16. Arkansas           (5-0)         467
17. Texas A&M          (3-1)         465
18. Clemson            (4-0)         462
19. Colorado State     (4-0)         440
20. USC                (1-1)         396
21. San Diego          (2-1)         369
22. Illinois           (0-2)         229
23. Colorado           (2-1)         192
24. Kansas State       (3-1)         148
25. Michigan           (3-0)         133

Others: North Carolina, Michigan State, Loyola Marymount, 
Northern Iowa, Notre Dame, Indiana, Minnesota.

Probable Starters Setter
Denise Boylan, Jr. 6-1 (Lisle, Ill.)

Outside Hitters
Marcie Bomhack, So., 6-0 (Waukesha, Wis.)
Jo Jameyson, Jr., 6-1 (Alvin, Texas)

Opposite
Kristy Kreher, So., 6-1 (Birmingham, Mich.)

Middle Blockers
Mary Leffers, Sr., 6-4 (Tampa, Fla.)
Malinda Goralski, So., 6-1(Missouri City, Texas)

Defensive Specialists
Adrienne Shimmel, Jr., 5-10 (Mission Viejo, Calif.)
Keara Coughlin, Fr., 5-7 (Chicago, Ill.)

Volleyball Magazine Poll

 R  School           1999 Record
 1. Pacific             5-0
 2. Penn State          4-1
 3. Long Beach State    4-0
 4. Nebraska            4-2
 5. Texas               2-0
 6. Florida             4-2
 7. Hawai'i             2-0
 8. Stanford            1-1
 9. Brigham Young       2-1
10. UCLA                2-0
11. UC Santa Barbara    2-0
12. Wisconsin           3-1
13. Pepperdine          2-0
14. Arizona             4-1
15. Ohio State          1-0
16. Arkansas            5-0
17. San Diego           2-1
18. USC                 1-1
19. Colorado State      4-0
20. Notre Dame          3-1

BIG EAST Preseason Poll

Rank Team (1st Place)  Points 
 1.  Notre Dame (9)      119 
 2.  Georgetown (3)      112 
 3.  Connecticut          96 
 4.  Pittsburgh           90 
 5.  Rutgers              83 
 6.  West Virginia        71 
 7.  St. John's           52 
 8.  Syracuse             49 
 9.  Villanova            36 
10.  Seton Hall           34 
11.  Boston College       22 
12.  Providence           18

1999 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Denise Boylan, Notre Dame
Christi Girton, Notre Dame
Kiran Gill, Georgetown*
Yulia Vtyurina, Georgetown
Lola Opadiran, Rutgers
Paula Zemrowski, Pittsburgh
*= unanimous selection Preseason Player of the Year
Yulia Vtyurina, Georgetown

1999 Roster

1 Kaitlin McEwen Fr. MB 6-2 Baton Rouge, LA Bishop Sullivan 2 Denise Boylan** Jr. S 6-1 Lisle, IL Benet Academy 3 Malinda Goralski* So. MB 6-1 Missouri City, TX Clements 4 Kristy Kreher* So. OPP 6-1 Birmingham, MI Marian 5 Emily Schiebout** Sr. OPP 6-1 Blaine, MN Concordia 6 Marcie Bomhack* So. OH 6-0 Waukesha, WI Catholic Memorial 7 Christi Girton** Jr. OH 6-3 Muncie, IN Muncie Central 8 Mary Leffers*** Sr. MB 6-4 Tampa, FL Berkeley Prep 9 Jo Jameyson** Jr. MB/OH 6-1 Alvin, TX Alvin 10 Lauren Stettin Sr. S/DS 6-0 Burr Ridge, IL Hinsdale 11 Keara Coughlin Fr. DS/OH 5-8 Chicago, IL Marian Catholic 12 Adrienne Shimmel** Jr. DS/OH 5-10 Mission Viejo, CA Capistrano Valley 13 Sara Tonnies So. DS 5-6 Dearborn, MI Dearborn 14 Janie Alderete Fr. DS 5-4 Santa Clara, CA Archbishop Mitty 16 Michelle Graham* Jr. S 5-8 Austin, TX Austin * � denotes monograms earned

Head Coach: Debbie Brown (Arizona State '82, 9th season at Notre Dame) Assistant Coaches: Steve Hendricks (Ball State '90), Jessica Fiebelkorn-Kerr (Notre Dame '93)

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