Nov. 20, 2003
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BIG EAST Championship
[1] Pittsburgh (22-4, 11-1) vs. [4] Villanova (14-14, 7-5)
Semifinals * Saturday, Nov. 22, 1:00 p.m. * Joyce Center
[2] #17 Notre Dame (22-4, 11-1) vs. [3] Miami (22-8, 9-3)
Semifinals * Saturday, Nov. 22, 3:30 p.m. * Joyce Center
Semifinal Winners
Final * Sunday, Nov. 23, 2:00 p.m. * Joyce Center
The 17th-ranked University of Notre Dame
volleyball team (22-4, 11-1) will try to win its eighth title in nine
years since joining the league in this weekend's BIG EAST
Championship, to be held Saturday and Sunday in the Joyce Center.
The Irish, who were one of the league's regular-season co-champions
and the second seed, will play host to Miami (22-8, 9-3) at 3:30 p.m.
(EST) on Saturday in a semifinal match. The other semifinal, between
top-seeded co-champion Pittsburgh (22-4, 11-1) and fourth-seeded
Villanova (14-14, 7-5), will begin at 1 p.m. (EST) on Saturday, while
the winners will meet on Sunday at 2 p.m. (EST) in the championship.
FOLLOWING THE BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP: Fans and media unable to
attend the BIG EAST Championship will have a number of ways of
keeping up with the action. Notre Dame's official athletic website,
www.und.com, will feature links to live scoring of all three matches
throughout the weekend, as well as live internet audio broadcasts of
the matches involving the Irish, with Lorne Oke and Stephen Hinkel
bringing the action to subscribers of College Sports Pass. Live
stats can be accessed at http://und.ocsn.com/livestats/w-volley. Be
advised, however, that statistics displayed are not official until
the match is completed. For other ways to follow the Irish, see
"Keeping Up With ND Volleyball" on page 9 of this release.
SNAPSHOT OF THE IRISH: Notre Dame's women's volleyball
program has experienced a wealth of success since the arrival of head
coach Debbie Brown in 1991. In her 12+ seasons, Brown has guided
Notre Dame to a winning record every year (and 20+ wins in every year
but one), compiling a 322-108 (.749) mark. The Irish have earned 11
consecutive berths to the NCAA Championship, including a '93
quarterfinal finish and three trips to the round of 16 (1994, '95,
and '97). Since joining the BIG EAST Conference in '95, Notre Dame
has dominated the league, winning eight regular-season and seven
tournament titles in nine years. Overall, the Irish are 98-5 in
regular-season BIG EAST play and 16-1 in conference tournament
action. Notre Dame is 56-0 in BIG EAST regular-season matches in the
Joyce Center, as well as 4-0 in home conference tournament action.
The 2003 Irish team returned 12 monogram winners and six
starters from last year's squad that was 24-8 and earned the No. 16
seed in the NCAA Championship, playing host to first- and
second-round play. The Irish also finished second in the nation in
blocks per game (3.66) with all the players responsible for that
number returning to the fold. This season Notre Dame leads the
nation in blocking at 3.73 per game, with the second-best team in
Division I, Cornell, at 3.52 heading into last week.
After playing the first 10 matches with a 6-2 rotation, the
Irish have returned to their traditional 5-1 offense. Senior S
Kristen Kinder (the '01 BIG EAST Setter of the Year) orchestrates the
Notre Dame attack for the third consecutive season, having helped the
Irish to a 68-19 (.782) record as a starter. On the right side,
junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis, the '02 BIG EAST Championship Most
Outstanding Player and a preseason all-conference selection, leads
the Irish in kills for the second straight season. She already has
set two school records this year: most kills in a match without an
error (24, 9/9 vs. Valparaiso) and consecutive matches with 10+ kills
(21). The middle is patrolled by a pair of sophomores named Lauren
having outstanding seasons. MB Lauren Kelbley, the '02 BIG EAST and
AVCA Northeast Region Rookie of the Year, and MB Lauren Brewster, who
set the Irish record for blocks assists (161) in a season in '02,
returned after stepping in immediately as freshman starters. They
have combined to win five BIG EAST Player of the Week awards this
season (Kelbley-two, Brewster-three), while Brewster is second in the
nation in individual blocking (1.79) and is tops on the team in
hitting (.368). On the left side, OH Jessica Kinder, twin sister of
Kristen, is one of the hardest hitters and also one of the top
defensive players on the team. She set a school record for digs in
a three-game match (28) on Sept. 9 vs. Valparaiso. A pair of seniors,
OPP Katie Neff and OPP/OH Kim Fletcher, also have been strong
presences on the front row at times. L/OH Meg Henican is averaging
4.07 digs as the starting libero after playing on the left side in
the 6-2. DS/L Danielle Herndon, the lone freshman on the Irish,
started the season at libero, but now is a back-row sub.
LAST TIME ON THE COURT: Notre Dame split a pair of road
matches in its final weekend of BIG EAST Conference play. The Irish
beat West Virginia 3-0 on Saturday morning before falling in five
games at Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon.
Notre Dame clinched a share of its eighth BIG EAST title in
nine years in the league with a 30-22, 30-25, 30-20 win vs. West
Virginia in the WVU Coliseum. The Irish were strong offensively,
hitting .358 behind the setting of senior co-captain Kristen Kinder
(Fresno, Calif./Bullard H.S.). She finished with 35 assists, while
also accounting for five kills on nine attempts and registering eight
digs and three blocks. Sophomore MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood,
Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) was the most effective hitter for the Irish,
cranking 12 kills while making only one error on 19 swings, a hitting
percentage of .579. Senior OPP Katie Neff (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu
Academy) did not make an error, slamming nine kills on .429 hitting,
her top mark of the season. Sophomore MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom,
Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) had her second-best hitting percentage of
the season, a .625 mark accrued from converting eight attack attempts
into six kills.
Senior OH Jessica Kinder (Fresno, Calif./Bullard H.S.) was
outstanding defensively, registering 20 kills. She now owns two of
the top five digging performances in three-game matches in Irish
history, having set the school record with 28 vs. Valparaiso in
September. Kinder has had 20 or more digs four times this season.
Sophomore L/OH Meg Henican (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman H.S.)
added 15 digs, marking the ninth time she has had 15 or more in a
match this season. The two combined for 58 percent of Notre Dame's
60 digs.
The nation's leading blocking team, Notre Dame had 11.
Sophomore MB Carolyn Cooper (Houston, Texas) led the way with a
season-high six blocks, while Brewster, who ranks second in Division
I in individual blocking, was in on five.
Notre Dame served well, registering six aces and only five
service errors. Loomis led the way with a pair.
All 13 healthy Irish players saw action on Sunday, marking
just the third time this season that occurred.
Notre Dame was foiled in its bid for the outright BIG EAST
Conference regular-season championship in a 20-30, 30-26, 30-25,
13-30, 15-13 loss to Pittsburgh. The teams finished as league
co-champions, but the Panthers secured the No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST
Championship. The Irish won the first four points of the final game
and led 6-1 before Pittsburgh rallied to tie the score 8-8. The
Panthers edged ahead 12-10 and held on to gain their first win over
Notre Dame since 1990, ending a string of 15 consecutive losses.
Notre Dame's offense struggled much of the night, hitting
over .230 in just one game and finishing at .215. Brewster posted
her third double-double of the season with 21 kills and 10 blocks.
Kristen Kinder also had a double-double, with 51 assists and a
season-high 15 digs.
Henican paced the floor game with a career-high 25 digs. The
Irish posted a season-high 22.5 blocks, an average of 4.5 per game.
IRISH FALL TO 17TH IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: After its first
non-winning week of the season, Notre Dame fell five spots to 17th in
this week's USA Today/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25. The ranking is
the highest for Notre Dame since Sept. 30, 1996, when it was also
12th. A week ago, the Irish were ranked 10th by Volleyball magazine,
12th by RichKern.com, and 16th in the RKPI rankings, which are
designed to emulate the NCAA's RPI rankings.
Three '03 Irish opponents were listed among the top 15 in
this week's AVCA top 25. Pepperdine (L, 1-3) leads the way at
fourth, while Stanford (Nov. 29, away) is seventh, Northern Iowa (L,
1-3) is 12th, and Arizona (W, 3-1) is 25th. Pittsburgh (L, 2-3) and
Utah (W, 3-2) are receiving votes, but are not listed in the top 25.
IRISH OFF TO SECOND-BEST START IN SCHOOL HISTORY: Despite
Notre Dame's two losses last week, the Irish are still off to the
second-best start through 26 matches in school history. Notre Dame's
22-4 record is second only to that of the 1994 team, which was 24-2
en route to a 33-4 final record and a berth in the round of 16 of the
NCAA Championship.
IRISH MAINTAIN NATIONAL LEAD IN BLOCKING, BREWSTER SECOND:
Notre Dame continues to hold a healthy lead nationally among Division
I teams in blocking last week, while sophomore MB Lauren Brewster
(Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) remained second among individual
blocking leaders. The Irish are averaging 3.73 blocks per game this
season, with Cornell, the nation's second-best team, at 3.52.
Brewster is averaging 1.79, second only to Valparaiso's Liz Mikos'
average of 1.80.
Notre Dame had a season-high 22.5 blocks at Pittsburgh on
Sunday and averaged 4.18 blocks over the weekend. Prior to that, the
Irish had turned in three consecutive subpar blocking performances,
averaging just 2.79 blocks per game (33.5 blocks, 12 games). That
came on the heels of a six-match stretch in which Notre Dame averged
4.89 blocks per game (93 blocks, 19 games). Brewster had 10 on
Sunday after averaging 1.62 over the previous six matches. Prior to
that, she averaged 2.50 blocks (40 blocks, 16 games) per game over a
five-match stretch.
A year ago, Notre Dame finished second nationally in blocking
with a school-record average of 3.66, while Brewster was fourth at
1.68.
BIG EAST AWARDS: Notre Dame has a number of candidates for
the BIG EAST Conference yearly awards, which will be announced on
Friday at the annual league banquet. The honors presented, all
determined by votes of conference head coaches, will be Player of the
Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Libero of the Year
(presented for the first time), and three teams of all-conference
selections (first team, second team, honorable mention with six
players on each).
Notre Dame has had a history of success in the BIG EAST
awards in its eight previous seasons in the league. Head coach
Debbie Brown has been tabbed the conference's top coach three times
(1995, 2000, '01), while she has seen her players earn
player-of-the-year honors six times (every year but '98 and '02, most
recently Malinda Goralski in 2001). MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom,
Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) was the league's best rookie in 2002,
while 28 players have earned all-conference honors, including 17 on
the first team. Among current Irish players, OPP/OH Emily Loomis
(Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) was a first-team selection last
season, while S Kristen Kinder (Fresno, Calif./Bullard H.S.) earned
second-team honors in '01 and '02. Kelbley was a second-team honoree
a season ago, while OPP/OH Kim Fletcher (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu
Academy) was in '01. MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood
H.S.) gained honorable mention last year.
NOTRE DAME WINNING STREAK SNAPPED AT 14: The Nov. 11 loss at
Northern Iowa snapped a 14-match winning streak for the Irish, which
dated back to a 3-1 loss at home against South Carolina on Sept. 14.
The winning streak was the second-longest in the 24-year history of
Notre Dame varsity volleyball and the longest under 13-year head
coach Debbie Brown. The longest winning streak in school history was
17 matches in 1986. Over the streak, Notre Dame won 42 of 48 games,
surrendering one each to Purdue, Villanova, Connecticut, and North
Carolina, as well as two to Virginia Tech.
In the Brown era, the Irish have had 29 different winning
streaks of five matches or more, winning five in a row seven times,
six straight four times, seven in a row three times, eight straight
four times, nine in a row six times, 10 straight once, 11 in a row
twice, and 12 straight once, and 14 in a row once.
Notre Dame also was just two shy of a pair of other school
records before losing to UNI. The Irish had won eight in a row away
from home and six straight on opponents' home courts.
CLASS OF THE CONFERENCE: Since Notre Dame joined the BIG EAST
Conference in 1995, the Irish have experienced incredible success in
league play. Overall, Notre Dame is 98-5 in conference
regular-season matches and 16-1 in the BIG EAST Championship. In
eight seasons, the Irish have won eight regular-season titles and
seven tournament titles. Notre Dame is 56-0 at home in BIG EAST
regular-season matches and 4-0 in league tournament action in the
Joyce Center.
This season, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh (22-4, 11-1) tied for
the regular-season crown with identical 11-1 records. The lone Irish
conference loss came in five games to the Panthers on Sunday. Miami
(22-8, 9-3) and Villanova (14-14, 7-5) secured the other two
positions in the BIG EAST Championship.
GOOD START: Notre Dame opened BIG EAST Conference play 11-0
for the eighth time in nine years since joining the league in 1995.
The Irish have posted six undefeated conference seasons and started
11-0 in each of the last two seasons before losing. The only year
Notre Dame did not win at least its first 11 league matches was 1998,
when the Irish lost at Connecticut in their third conference match of
the year.
IRISH IN THE BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP: For the ninth consecutive
year, Notre Dame has earned a berth in the BIG EAST Championship to
take place Saturday and Sunday in the Joyce Center. The tournament
features the top four teams in the conference, as determined by
winning percentage in league matches, taking part in a
single-elimination tournament. The winner receives the BIG EAST's
automatic berth in the NCAA Championship, which begins at campus
sites on Dec. 4. This is the third time Notre Dame has played host
to the conference tournament, after doing so in 1995 and 2000.
The Irish are 16-1 in the league tournament, having won seven
championships. Notre Dame's only defeat came in the 1999 title
match, a three-game defeat against Georgetown. The Irish come into
the BIG EAST tournament as the No. 2 seed for the first time in
history. Notre Dame was the top seed in every previous league
championship except the '98 edition, in which the Irish were the
third seed.
The Irish, seeded second after an 11-1 conference season,
will take on third-seeded Miami (22-8, 9-3) at 3:30 p.m. (EST) on
Saturday in the second semifinal. Top-seeded conference co-champion
Pittsburgh (22-4, 11-1) and fourth-seeded Villanove (14-14, 7-5) will
play at 1 p.m. (EST) on Saturday. The winners of those matches will
tussle for the league title on Sunday at 2 p.m. (EST).
A season ago, Notre Dame lost its final two regular-season
matches, but rebounded for four-game victories over Connecticut and
Miami to capture the title in Pittsburgh, Pa. OPP/OH Emily Loomis
(Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) was named the tournament's Most
Outstanding Player with 21 kills on .462 hitting.
HOME, SWEET HOME: Playing in the Joyce Center has been a
nightmare for opponents, especially since head coach Debbie Brown
took over the Irish program in 1991. In that span, Notre Dame is
158-22 (.878) at home, including a school-record 36-match winning
streak from 2000-02. In addition to holding a 56-0 all-time mark at
home in BIG EAST matches, the Irish have had incredible success
against unranked teams. In the Brown era, Notre Dame is 151-5 (.968)
against unranked foes in the Joyce Center, with the losses coming to
Santa Clara in 1993, Ball State in '96, Oral Roberts in '98, Michigan
State in the '02 NCAA tournament, and South Carolina in '03. Each of
the first three defeats came in five games. The loss to MSU snapped
the 36-match overall home streak and a 52-match home winning streak
against unranked teams.
TAKE 20: Notre Dame's win over Virginia Tech on Nov. 7
improved its record to 20-2, marking its fifth consecutive 20-win
season and the 12th time in 13 years under head coach Debbie Brown
that the Irish have won at least 20 matches. The lone exception was
an 18-13 campaign in 1998. Overall, this is the 15th season with 20+
victories in 24 years of varsity volleyball at Notre Dame.
LOOMIS NEARS 1,000 CAREER KILLS: Junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis
(Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) enters the weekend with 967
career kills, just 33 shy of 1,000. She will be the 13th player in
Notre Dame history to register 1,000 career kills. The last to do so
was 2001 graduate Kristy Kreher.
BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK DOMINANCE: Notre Dame has
dominated the BIG EAST Player of the Week award this season, gaining
at least a share of it seven times in 11 weeks (while being idle
once). Junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers
H.S.) won the initial honor of the season, on Sept. 1. Sophomore MB
Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.) was named a BIG
EAST Co-Player of the Week Sept. 8 after her tournament-MVP
performance in the Longhorn Classic and won the honor again on Sept.
29.
Sophomore MB Lauren Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood
H.S.) dominated the award in the month of October, winning it three
times and missing out only on an idle week for the Irish. She gained
the distinction Oct. 6, 13, and 27. Brewster is just the third Irish
player ever to be named BIG EAST player of the week three times in a
season. She joins Mary Leffers (1999) and Kristy Kreher (2001) in
that group. She and St. John's sophomore Jackie Ahlers are the only
two players to win the award three times this season.
Most recently, senior co-captain Kristen Kinder (Fresno,
Calif./Bullard H.S.) won the award on Nov. 10.
LOOMIS BREAKS A PAIR OF SCHOOL RECORDS: Junior OPP/OH Emily
Loomis (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) has broken a pair of
Irish records this season. In the Sept. 9 Valparaiso match, she set
a Notre Dame record for most kills in a match without an error (24),
while also falling just shy of the school record for kills in a
three-game match. The previous mark for most kills without an error
was 23, done by Jaimie Lee on September 8, 1995 at Indiana in a
five-game victory.
Loomis also set a new record for consecutive matches with 10
or more kills, with a 21-match streak including the final six
contests of 2002 and each of the first 15 this year. It was snapped
when she had seven kills against Rutgers on Oct. 12. The longest
streak of that kind prior to Loomis' was a 17-match stretch by Angie
Harris from Oct. 5 to Nov. 28 in 1997. Loomis' 15-match streak this
season was the third-longest in a single season.
Jessica Kinder DIGS HER WAY TO SCHOOL RECORD: On Sept. 9 vs.
Valparaiso, Notre Dame senior co-captain OH Jessica Kinder (Fresno,
Calif./Bullard H.S.) set a Notre Dame record with 28 digs, the most
ever by an Irish player in a three-game match. Her performance,
which featured 10 digs in the first game, three in the second, and 15
in the final frame, bettered the previous record by three. Tracey
Shelton scrambled for 25 digs in a three-game win over Butler on Oct.
25, 1989. Kinder's 28 were the most in any length match for an Irish
player since October 25, 1993, when Christy Peters had 31 at Arizona
State in a four-game contest.
OCTOBER FEST: Notre Dame posted a perfect 8-0 record in the
month of October, marking the first-ever perfect record in a full
month of play in the 24-year history of the program. The Irish, who
took 24 of 26 games last month, have won 11 consecutive October
matches, dating back to last year. Over the last four-plus years,
Notre Dame is 34-5 (.872) in October.
Six times before have the Irish gone undefeated in a month
featuring a limited schedule -- never one with more than four matches
in it. Notre Dame went unbeaten in August in 1987 (1-0), '91 (1-0),
'96 (3-0), 2001 (1-0) and '02 (2-0), as well as posting an undefeated
November (4-0) in 1982.
TOP-15 BATTLE: The Nov. 11 match at Northern Iowa marked the
first time since Sept. 13, 1996 that Notre Dame had been involved in
a match between teams both ranked among the top 15 in the AVCA poll.
On that occasion, #5 Penn State rallied from a game-one loss for a
3-1 victory over #11 Notre Dame in the Mizuno USA Cup in Chicago.
The Irish faced a team ranked in the national top 25 for the
third time this season. Notre Dame opened the season against #10
Arizona (W, 3-1) and #5 Pepperdine (L, 3-1), but then played 21
matches against unranked foes.
PACKING THEM IN: A crowd of 8,643 watched Notre Dame outlast
Virginia Tech 3-2 on Nov. 7, setting a new Joyce Center attendance
record for volleyball by more than 5,000. It was the fourth-largest
crowd for a collegiate volleyball match this season. The previous
mark was 3,351 on Nov. 1, 2002 vs. Providence. Both matches were
played immediately before Irish football pep rallies.
Two days later, 2,715 packed the Joyce to watch the Irish
beat Miami 3-0 in a match televised by College Sports Television. It
was the largest volleyball crowd in the building for a match not
played before a football pep rally.
For the weekend, a total of 11,358 watched Notre Dame
volleyball, pushing the Irish season attendance to 21,302, a new
all-time high. The Irish also are on pace to set a new average
attendance mark, currently welcoming 1,639 fans per match. A year
ago, Notre Dame averaged 1,064, which was the highest in the
program's history to that point. The Irish rank ninth nationally in
total attendance this season and 14th in average per match.
NOTRE DAME DEFENSE REGISTERS A FIRST IN PROGRAM'S HISTORY:
The Notre Dame defense held its opponents to identical -.008 hitting
percentages in consecutive matches two weeks ago. It was the first
time in the 24-year history of the program that Irish opponents
registered more errors than kills in back-to-back matches. On Oct.
29, Illinois State had 31 kills and 32 errors on 132 attempts. Two
days later, Syracuse notched 32 kills and 33 errors on 129 swings on
Sunday. Once before, in 1995, Notre Dame held opponents to negative
percentages twice in a three-match span.
On the season, the Irish are on pace to set a new school
record for lowest opponent hitting average, holding foes to a .148
percentage. Notre Dame has seen the opposition hit .190 or better
just seven times in 23 matches. Irish opponents hit .070 or worse in
four straight matches heading into last week, a combined percentage
of .013. Irish foes have been under .090 on eight occasions in '03.
In BIG EAST play, Notre Dame came into last week allowing a
.125 attack percentage, by far the best defensive effort in the
league. Pittsburgh was second, surrendering a .158 hitting
percentage to opponents.
REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS: The 2003 season has produced a
number of individual and team performances that rank among the best
in the 24-year history of the Irish program.
On the team front, Notre Dame is currently on pace to break
four school season records: block average (3.73; record is 3.66 in
'02), low opponent hitting percentage (.150; record is .151 in '86),
and low opponent ace average (0.95; record is 1.11 in '96). The
Irish also currently rank second all-time in winning percentage
(.846; record is .892 in '94), second in five-game matches (3-1,
.750; record is 5-1, .833 in '92), sixth in kill average (15.60;
record is 17.43 in '00) and home record (12-1, .923; record is 1.000
in '94 & '01), and seventh in fewest service errors per game (2.29 in
'03; record is 1.68 in '96 & '98).
Individually, a number of players are on pace to etch their
names among the all-time season leaders. Sophomore MB Lauren
Brewster (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood H.S.) is averaging 1.79 blocks
per game, which currently ranks as the second-best season blocking
average in history, just behind Mary Kay Waller's school record of
1.79 in 1988. Brewster is eighth in total blocks (163) and her
hitting percentage of .368 ranks as the fifth-best mark in a season,
while sophomore MB Lauren Kelbley (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon H.S.)
is 11th at .316. Kelbley's 22 matches with 10 or more kills is tied
for 12th, while the 23 turned in by junior OPP/OH Emily Loomis (Fort
Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) put her in a tie for eighth. Two
Irish players are posting dig numbers that are among the best eight
defensive seasons ever. Sophomore L/OH Meg Henican (New Orleans,
La./Isidore Newman H.S.) is averaging 3.70 per game, currently
ranking fourth, while senior co-captain OH Jessica Kinder (Fresno,
Calif./Bullard H.S.) is at 3.27, which is eighth. Henican is seventh
in digs at 355. Additionally, four Irish players -- Henican, Loomis,
Jessica Kinder, and senior co-captain S Kristen Kinder (Fresno,
Calif./Bullard H.S.) -- have played in all 96 games this season.
Only six players in history have played in every game in a season.
A number of Irish players also are moving up the all-time
career lists in various categories. Loomis is among the leaders in
six categories: percentage of games played (2nd, .954), kill average
(5th, 3.24), percentage of matches played (6th, .989), matches with
20+ kills (7th, 6), matches with 10+ kills (7th, 55), and block
average (14th, 0.90). Kristen Kinder is third in assists (3,498) and
fourth in assist average (10.80). Jessica Kinder ranks third in
total service aces (116), fourth in ace average (0.367), and 11th in
dig average (2.48). Fellow senior OPP/OH Kim Fletcher (St. Louis,
Mo./Nerinx Hall H.S.) is 11th in hitting percentage (.270), while
classmate OPP Katie Neff (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) is 12th in
block average (1.00). Brewster, Kelbley, and Henican have reached
minimums in three categories to qualify for the career leaders and
figure to move into others as they play more matches. Brewster's
career block average of 1.73 currently is tops all-time, ahead of
Waller's sch
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