Orangewomen Take On BIG EAST Leader Notre Dame on Saturday
11/8/2002 10:12:23 AM | Volleyball
The Syracuse women’s volleyball team faces the challenge of playing the top three squads in the BIG EAST in the Orangewomen’s (19-9, 5-5 BIG EAST) final three matches of the 2002 season. On Saturday, SU plays Notre Dame, undefeated in the BIG EAST, at 1 p.m. in the Women’s Building.
Notre Dame (20-5, 10-0 BIG EAST) leads the series against Syracuse, 9-1. The Orangewomen’s lone win against the Fighting Irish came in 1981. Seniors Abby Van Mater (West Chester, PA/Unionville) and Jen Crownover (Aurora, CO/Eaglecrest Academy) will be honored before the Notre Dame match.
The Orangewomen won two BIG EAST matches last weekend versus Providence and Boston College. SU has now won its last three matches and nine straight games. In its 3-0 win against Providence, SU set a school record with a .544 attack percentage. Syracuse committed only three errors in the match.
Senior co-captainAbby Van Mater (West Chester, PA/Unionville) recorded 18 kills on 25 attempts with no errors for a .720 attack percentage in two matches. Against Providence, Van Mater led the team with 11 kills on 13 attempts for a career-high .846 attack percentage. Van Mater is third on the team with 186 kills.
Syracuse defeated Boston College, 3-0, on Friday night. The Orangewomen set a team record with 15 service aces. Freshman Aila Dommestrup (Ottawa, Ontario/Sir Robert Borden) led the Orange with a career-high five aces. Freshman Kelly Duan (Baotou City, China/Zhong Shan University) followed with four aces.
Freshman Kristen Conway (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) led the offense against Boston College with 20 kills. Conway was named BIG EAST Co-Rookie of the Week on November 5. Conway hit .442 with 26 kills and 14 digs in two matches. Conway moved into 10th place in the SU record book for most attacks in a season with 915. Anne Parisien previously held the tenth position with 912 attacks in the 1991 season.
Van Mater leads SU with 95 total blocks (22 solo, 73 assists). Van Mater moved into eighth place on SU’s all-time list for solo blocks with 64. Rachel Watson holds the seventh position with 65 solo blocks in a career.
Junior co-captain Christen Casey (Long Beach, IN/Marquette) has played in a team-high 102 games. Casey is averaging 3.29 digs per game. Last year, Casey averaged 2.36 kills per game. Casey moved into ninth place on SU’s list for most digs in a single season with 336 digs. Casey moved into eighth place all-time at SU in digs with 805. Noreen Carroll ‘02 holds the seventh spot with 902 digs.
Notre Dame defeated Boston College and Providence last weekend, both by scores of 3-0. Notre Dame extended its school-record home win streak to 35 matches. The Irish have not lost at home since Sept 23, 2000 to then No. 7 Colorado State. Notre Dame extended its home win streak in conference matches to 49 with its win against Providence. Notre Dame has not lost a regular-season BIG EAST Conference match since a loss at West Virginia on Nov. 15, 1998, a streak of 42 consecutive regular-season wins. Notre Dame received votes in the USA Today/AVCA/Coaches Poll.
