Notre Dame swept into Class 3 third-place game

WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Notre Dame walked away disappointed after being swept in all three matches at the Class 3 round-robin semifinals.

The losses dropped Notre Dame --which was playing for its first Class 3 title after placing fourth in Class 2 in 2001 -- into today's third-place game against Duchesne.

"We had a lot of nervousness," Notre Dame coach Tara Stroup said. "We didn't look relaxed at all out there."

The Bulldogs (30-6-1)dropped the first game of the first match to Duchesne 25-20. They lost the second game 25-16. The Bulldogs had 11 errors and a frustrating 3.9 kill percentage.

"We just didn't play our game," Stroup said.

Notre Dame returned more calm and poised for the second game against O'Hara and played closer in a 25-20, 26-24 loss. The Bulldogs improved their kill percentage to 29.3 percent and committed only five errors combined.

"We played awesome in the second game," Stroup said. "We were making blocks on probably the best hitter in this tournament. We just couldn't pull out any victories."

Notre Dame already knew it would play today for third place by the time it took the floor for the day's final game against Pleasant Hill. Stroup said the Bulldogs suffered because of it in a 25-16, 25-11 sweep.

"We knew we were playing for third," Stroup said, "and I don't think we were hitting the ball as hard as we could have been."

Senior Sommer McCauley led Notre Dame with 17 kills in 54 attempts. She had only two errors in 18 attempted serves.

"We are going to make some adjustments, but nothing drastic," Stroup said of today's 5:30 p.m. game. "If we play our game, I think we can come out of here with third."