Notre Dame volleyball team shakes off rust vs. Advance

The Notre Dame volleyball team got off to a bit of a slow start against Advance on Tuesday evening.

The Bulldogs trailed 10-6 early in the first game and looked sluggish.

They quickly changed that.

Notre Dame went on a 14-1 run and cruised to a 25-15, 25-16 win over the Hornets.

"We've had that kind of pattern this year where we started off a little slow," Notre Dame coach Tara Stroup said. "We haven't played now in over a week. It's been awhile since we've had a game, and I think they just got off to a little slow start. But we started coming around and got our passing where it needs to be. We have good hitters and good setters and we can handle it pretty well if our passing is on. I told them the first four points we got, [Advance] messed up a couple of them and we weren't doing a whole lot during our points. We were just kind of standing there. But then we started getting our passes where they needed to go and turned it around."

Notre Dame's Kate Edwards spikes the ball past Advance defenders Jaqueline Maddox and Aimie Simmers, right, during Game 1of their match Tuesday at Notre Dame. (Laura Simon)

The passes were the missing link for Notre Dame early.

The Bulldogs' net play was dominant once they figured it out the passing.

"Our passing just got a whole lot better," Notre Dame senior Kate Edwards said. "They are the ones who make us look good. We have a lot of good hitters who really can put it to the floor, but it all starts with the pass. They deserve a lot of credit."

Advance came out firing, jumping out to a four-point lead at 10-6, but Notre Dame rallied.

Brooke Bohnert started the run for Notre Dame (13-5) with a kill and three straight Advance errors tied it at 10-10 before Notre Dame took the lead for good on an Edwards kill.

Advance junior Aimie Simmers hits a shot during Tuesday's match at Notre Dame.

"They were just keeping our passers back on our heels," Edwards said. "They sent a lot of deep balls, a lot that we couldn't get right to Shelby, and that's always a problem. It messes up our offense and kind of messes up our whole flow."

The Hornets took a timeout to attempt to slow down the Bulldogs but to no avail.

Notre Dame quickly stretched the lead to 17-11 to force another Advance timeout.

The Bulldogs seemed to relax after the big run.

"We know how being behind feels," Bohnert said. "And whenever we get a good hit and a good pass, it's just really exciting."

Advance junior Amber Kennedy returns a volley from Notre Dame in their first game Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at Notre Dame Regional High School. Notre Dame won 2-0. (Laura Simon)

Notre Dame pushed its lead to 20-11, but the Hornets weren't finished.

Advance clawed back in the game to make it 21-15, but the Bulldogs finished the next four points with a block and three kills.

Edwards led Notre Dame with seven kills, while Kelsey Lester followed with five and the trio of Amy Wibbenmeyer, Miranda Fowler and Myriah Bernard added four apiece. Shelby Dix finished with 15 assists, while Olivia Roth added 16 digs.

"We need to be the ones on offense, make them play defense the whole time," Stroup said. "We have the capability to do that when our passing is good. We can run an offense. We have a bunch of good hitters, and we can mix it up. Shelby [Dix], I thought, did a really good job, especially in that first game when we got on that stretch where we gained a bunch of points in a row mixing it up. I don't think they knew who to block. She was giving it to a bunch of different hitters, and we were all getting swings. We need to be more aggressive at the net, and it's something we've been working on."

There was no letdown from Notre Dame in the second game.

Advance junior Amber Kennedy digs a Notre Dame shot during Tuesday's match.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an 8-3 lead and eventually got up 21-9 to cruise to the win.

"Since we won the first game, we always say, 'Keep the momentum going in the second game,'" Bohnert said. "And I think we really did well. We just continued to talk, and when people got a good hit, we'd get pumped and excited."