Class 3: Notre Dame-Villa Duchesne

The Notre Dame volleyball team is about to get its final four underway. The teams are on the court for warmups. I'll of course have updates throughout the game.

The Bulldogs enter the game 34-4 while Villa Duchesne is listed at 30-7-2.

Game one:

3-2 Villa. Short internet connection problem, but we're back in business.

12-5 Villa. Timeout Notre Dame. I promise connection issues are fixed. Here we go.

13-5 Villa. Shannon Brennan set an attack out of bounds.

15-5 Villa. Kill for Villa out of the middle.

16-6 Villa. Lindsay Strieker misses a serve for ND.

17-8 Villa. ND got a block on one point, which hasn't been common. But the next point ended with an untouched kill for Villa.

18-9 Villa. Villa just won the longest point of the match (according to me anyway). It included an impressive ND get and save, but they couldn't finish the point.

21-9 Villa. Another quick attack for Villa gets down, this time out of the back.

24-9 Villa. Hitting error for Allyson Bradshaw.

24-12 Villa. Ace for Meghan Dohogne. ND getting something positive going at the end of the game.

25-12 Villia. Game ends with a Villa kill. ND played better at the end, but Villa just didn't make too many errors.

Game two:

The Notre Dame fans are trying to get some energy going with a cheer between games, the students seem to be the only ones making noise right now.

1-0 Villa. Villa Duchesne's Frankie Vain gets things started with a tip for a kill.

2-0 Villa. ND wanted a kill on the back line, but the ref called it out. It wasn't a popular decision.

3-2 Villa. Dohogne with a block in the middle set up the point for the Bulldogs.

5-3 Notre Dame. Dohogne with a put away. Not technically a kill, but it had the same effect.

(I deleted the post that was here because of an error. Shannon Brennan was serving for the Bulldogs.)

9-4 Notre Dame. Timeout Villa Duchesne.

10-5 Notre Dame. Now Dohogne is back to serve.

10-6 Notre Dame. Kill for Villa on the outside.

10-9 Notre Dame. The Bulldogs haven't found an answer for Bridget Boyle on the outside yet.

11-10 Notre Dame. Villa pulled even with a sideout -- then missed the serve.

12-12 tie. This time Villa pulled ahead -- then missed a serve. Those are about the only mistakes they're making right now.

13-13 tie. Lindsay Strieker in the net blocking for ND.

14-13 Villa. The Bulldogs gave Villa a freeball and they wasted little time putting it down.

14-14 tie. Strieker back to serve.

16-15 Notre Dame. Kill for Notre Dame on the outside. (I believe it was Kate Edwards.)

17-15 Notre Dame. Ace for Alyssa Ruopp on a ball that caught a lot of the net before falling over.

19-15 Notre Dame. Villa timeout.

20-15 Notre Dame. Ruopp still serving. They are having trouble getting a good attack off her serves.

20-17 Notre Dame. Just as I typed that Villa got a sideout followed by another quick point.

20-18 Notre Dame. Timeout Bulldogs. Villa stuffed the middle.

21-19 Notre Dame. Shannon Brennan wins a joust at the net to get ND the point.

21-20 Notre Dame. Communication problem for the Bulldog as a ball falls between two players.

21-21 tie.

22-21 Villa. A freeball costs the Bulldogs again.

23-21 Villa. Tip into the middle falls. Timeout Bulldogs.

24-21 Villa. Double block on the outside stuff ND attack.

25-22 Villa. Dohogne sent a serve long to end the game.

Slow start for the Bulldogs, but they can feel good about picking up their level of play significantly in the second game.

Notre Dame had 21 kills and 17 errors in 82 hitting attempts in the match while Villa Duchesne had 23 kills and five erros on 67 attempts. That pretty much sums up the difference in the match.

Amy Wibbenmeyer led the Bulldogs with eight kills in 16 attempts, including two errors. Meghan Dohogne finished with seven kills. She also had four errors in her 25 hitting attempts. Shannon Brennan had 13 assists.

Frankie Vain led Villa Duchesne with 12 kills on 24 attempts with two errors.

Next up for Notre Dame in pool play is O'Hara at around 7 p.m.