Feb. 5, 1998

Volleyball Inks Three to National Letters of Intent

Bomhack, Goralski and Kreher sign on to join Irish volleyball program in fall of 1998

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- The University of Notre Dame volleyball team has signed three high school seniors to national letters of intent, head coach Debbie Brown announced today. The signees include 6-0 outside hitter Marcie Bomhack (Waukesha, Wisc.), 6-1 middle blocker Malinda Goralski (Missouri City, Texas) and 6-1 rightside hitter Kristine Kreher (Birmingham, Mich.).

"This is an excellent and balanced class," said Notre Dame head coach Debbie Brown, who will be entering her eighth season with the Irish next fall. "This class provides us with one leftside player, one middle blocker and one rightside player. They each come from excellent programs and we feel that they will be a great fit at Notre Dame.

"Marcie's strength is as a hitter--she has a great arm--while Malinda is an excellent blocker whose 10'3'' jump reach will be the best on the team--she just loves to block, which is a great trait to have," continued Brown. "Christy provides a lot of versatility and is a natural opposite because she is lefthanded. But she also has experience hitting on the left and even has done some setting. And Christy is the strongest passer among the incoming players, which will be an area of focus for us next season."

Notre Dame is set to return 11 players from its 1997 team that went 25-9 and advanced to the regional round of the NCAA Tournament. The most noteworthy losses will be at outside hitter, where all-district performers Angie Harris and Jaimie Lee combined to post the second and fourth-most career kills in Notre Dame history (Harris 1,577 and Lee 1,446). The 11 Irish returners accounted for 83 percent of the team's assists and 79 percent of the blocks last season but the Irish will return just 50 percent of their kills, 54 percent of their digs and 55 percent of their service aces, primarily due to the graduation of Harris (492 K, 323 D, 59 SA) and Lee (482 K, 303 D, 22 SA).

"Each of the incoming players in a very strong candidate at her respective position and yet we are losing two starting leftside hitters, so there probably will be some shifting in positions with some of the veterans," said Brown. "We have a couple of versatile returners, in Lindsay Treadwell and Christi Girton, and that gives us the luxury of moving some players around as needed."

The 5-11 Treadwell has played at primarily middle blocker during her first three seasons but could see some time at opposite (right side) in '98 while the 6-3 Girton, the starting opposite for most of '97, is slated to open 1998 as a candidate on the left. Notre Dame's other returning starters include setter Denise Boylan, a 6-1 sophomore-to-be, and middle blocker Mary Leffers, a 6-4 junior-to-be.

Each of the 1998 signees attended the Notre Dame volleyball camp--Bomhack and Kreher during the summer of '96 and Goralski in '97--and each made an early verbal commitment to the Irish. The trio fittingly made their official visit during the same weekend, while Notre Dame was playing host to the Tournament of Champions last Sept. 19-20.

Bomhack, who made a verbal commitment to Notre Dame at the end of her official visit in mid-September, recently was named to the Volleyball Magazine honorable mention All-America squad, as one of 24 players to receive All-America recognition from the national magazine (six were named to the first, second and third teams). She led Catholic Memorial High School to the 1997 state title, posting a double-double (11 kills, 11 digs) in the 2-0 semi-final win over Milwaukee-Pius before totaling 12 kills, three blocks and an ace in the 15-12, 15-9 state title win over Divine Savior Holy Angels. A finalist for the Gatorade state player-of-the-year award, Bomhack's '97 season totals included 398 kills (4.16/gm), 92 blocks (0.96/gm) and 39 aces (0.41/gm). She established school records for career kills (1,301) and blocks (255) while setting the school record for kills in a season as a junior (457), when she led Catholic Memorial to a state runner-up finish. A four-time all-state performer, Bomhack also played club volleyball for the Milwaukee Sting, earning first team All-America honors in '96 after helping the Sting reach the national semi-finals.

Goralski, who committed verbally to Notre Dame after attending the '97 summer camp, captained Clements High School to the '97 regional title, earning team MVP and all-state honors before being named to the all-state tournament team. Her senior-year statistics included 3.39 blocks per game, a .440 hitting pct. and just three service errors over the course of 39 matches. Goralski's most noteworthy prep matches include a 19-block effort versus Clear Lake High School and a triple double (20 kills, 11 blocks, 10 digs) against Austin High School. Goralski also has played with Club Texas.

Kreher, who made a verbal commitment to Notre Dame on Feb. 1, 1997, currently is in her second season as team captain for a Marian High School team that is ranked fifth in the state of Michigan (where volleyball is played as a winter-season sport). Marian's career record-holder for kills, Kreher surpassed 400 kills as a sophomore and junior and had totaled 323 kills on .534 hitting this season, as of Feb. 4. She was named Marian's MVP as a junior after collecting her second straight all-state recognition. Kreher served as team captain for the Kalamazoo-based USA Michigan under-16 volleyball club that placed second at the AAU state tournament. She also earned MVP honors with the USA Michigan under-18 squad, after helping the squad again place second in the AAU state tournament.

PLAYER              POS./HT.    HOMETOWN            CURRENT SCHOOL/CLUB TEAM
Marcie Bomhack      OH/6-0      Waukesha, WI        Catholic Memorial HS/Milwaukee Sting VBC
Malinda Goralski    MB/6-1      Missouri City, TX   Clements HS/Club Texas
Kristine Kreher     RSH/6-1     Birmingham, MI      Marian HS/USA Michigan VBC

1998 VOLLEYBALL SIGNING CLASS NOTES

BOMHACK and her longtime teammate Amy Schweitzer were the only players from the same school that were listed among Volleyball Magazine's list of 24 All-Americans for the 1997 season. Schweitzer, a setter, has been a teammate of Bomhack's since the fifth grade and will continue to play close to her longtime friend, after signing with Purdue ... Notre Dame is scheduled to play at the University of Wisconsin's early-season tournament in 1998 (schedules are not yet officially approved ) ... Bomhack is a member of the National Honor Society and intends to pursue studies in medicine at Notre Dame ... she is the daughter of David and Ellen Bomhack ... her full name is Marcie Rae Bomhack.