ND rallies to hold off Advance in 3 sets

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Notre Dame, the No.1-ranked team in the SEMO Top 10 volleyball poll, had to rally to avoid being knocked off by an upset-minded Advance squad Tuesday night.

In a three-set matchup, the Bulldogs (23-4-1) edged the Hornets, 10-15, 15-13, 15-13. Advance (14-5-1) battled from behind several times to barely fall short.

Notre Dame jumped ahead early in the first set, taking an 8-4 lead before Advance scored four straight to tie. Advance went on a 7-2 run to upend the Bulldogs in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.

"We were doing unusual things out there for a while," Notre Dame coach Tara Stroup said "We needed to calm down and not just jump up and swing."

In the second set it was again Notre Dame taking an early lead and Advance fighting from behind. Valaree Rutherford started the set with eight service points before Nicole Tropf served four successful points to cut the Bulldog lead in half.

With the Notre Dame lead narrowed to 8-7, Kaci Cooper gave the Hornets momentum by serving the tying point off the hands of Ali Tyson. Advance went up 11-8 before Kristen Boos served six points to regain the lead for the Bulldogs.

With the score at 14-13 in Notre Dame's favor, Laura Brown scored on one of her nine kills to end the set.

"Our girls showed a lot of heart tonight," Advance coach Kimberly Aggert said. "That is something you can't teach. They didn't give up."

Advance continued to keep Notre Dame on edge in the third set by going on a 7-0 run for a 12-5 lead. Somer McCauley came up big with a block that gave Notre Dame the ball and momentum, as they eventually closed the gap to 12-11. The Bulldogs and Hornets continued to battle back and forth before Emily Buerhle ended the game for Notre Dame with a kill.

Erin Pfau led the Bulldogs with 13 digs and nine kills.

"We started slow tonight, but we once we settled down and got going we played well," Pfau said.

The Hornets were led by Nicole Tropf and Dana Williams. Troph provided seven kills and four blocks while Williams added 13 kills.

Notre Dame's junior varsity team also won in three sets, 15-4, 7-15, 15-2.