Notre Dame volleyball rolls to easy win over Bloomfield

The Bloomfield Wildcats clawed and scratched Monday night, but were no match for host Notre Dame, the top-ranked team in the SEMO volleyball poll.

Notre Dame (28-4-1) finished off the visiting Wildcats in two games, 15-3, 15-7.

The win was just the start of a big week for the Bulldogs. Notre Dame will host district foe New Madrid County Central tonight, and will then travel to fellow area power Leopold, the second-ranked team in the SEMO poll, Thursday night.

Notre Dame coach Tara Stroup said her team still has some work to do before districts start next week, but she has a lot of confidence in her squad.

"We've got some fine tuning to do," she said, "but we're as ready as we're going to get probably."

Monday's match was another dominating performance for Notre Dame. The Bulldogs rarely trailed, and overall the team made few mistakes.

Notre Dame simply outhit, outpassed and outserved Bloomfield. The Bulldogs were hitting hard throughout, with a couple of booming spikes from junior Sommer McCauley providing an exclamation point on the match.

Stroup said her team just continues to come out and get the job done.

"They came out ready to play," she said.

Sophomore hitter Laura Browne said Monday's performance was a good indicator of what the team can do when they play at the top of their game.

"I think we felt a lot better this game than in the past couple of games," she said.

After cruising through the first game, Notre Dame encountered a little resistance in the second game. Bloomfield rallied from an early deficit to cut the lead to 9-7, but that was as close as the Wildcats got.

Notre Dame had a very balanced scoring attack. Ali Tyson led the way with eight assists and eight service points. Erin Pfau and Katie Beussink led the Lady Bulldogs with five and four kills, respectively. McCauley chipped in five assists and seven service points, and Browne finished the match with three kills.

Stroup said her team's balance and chemistry have been a big key to the season.

"The chemistry is really good this year," she said. "They play really good together."

With districts only a week away, the Bulldogs are using their final matches as a way to build on their confidence.

Browne said the team's overall confidence is an important part of its success.

"The confidence is a big part," she said. "Every girl brings confidence, it's what brings us together."

McCauley said the Bulldogs realize that confidence is important, but also understand they cannot underestimate any of their opponents.

"We're confident, but we're not going to get a big head," she said.

Tonight's matchup with New Madrid County Central could be a possible first-round matchup for Notre Dame once districts begin. The Lady Bulldogs will be playing their last home match of the regular season, which will be senior night.

Stroup said she hopes her players' emotions don't play a role in what will be an important match.

"We want to do well tomorrow because it is very likely we'll play them in the first round," she said.

Not that the team will look past New Madrid County Central, but some of the players are certainly looking forward to Thursday's date with Leopold.

McCauley said she can't wait to test her team's strength against a quality opponent like Leopold.

"We are ready for Leopold," she said. "We are so hyped."