CLEVELAND -- In a hard fought match, Case Western Reserve defeated Notre Dame, 3-2, on Tuesday night. (
Box)
“This was a really good match,” said Head Coach
Mark Ridley. “It was so close, but at times we didn’t take care of the ball. Still, you have to give Case credit - they played good defense.”
That defense tallied 91 digs on a night where neither side could muster a .200 attack percentage. CWRU’s Tricia McCutchan had a match-high 28 points (22K-2 SA-4B) over the five sets. Junior Katie Barbis led Notre Dame, with 21 points (20-0-1). CWRU won by scores of 25-23, 24-26, 25-27, 25-21, 15-8.
For the Falcons (16-16), the loss marks their second in a row; NDC had won four straight prior to dropping matches to Mount Vernon Nazarene (Oct. 29) and now Case Western Reserve. The victory for the Spartans (22-7) marked their fifth in a row.
The match at the Veale Athletic Center marked the first of two non-conference matches that will bring NDC’s 2009 campaign to a close. It also marked the second this season between the two Forest City schools separated by a few short miles on Cleveland’s east side - Notre Dame defeated Case, 3-1, in a neutral-site match in Wooster, Ohio, on Sept. 12. With Tuesday’s victory over CWRU, Notre Dame has now beaten the Spartans in three consecutive matches dating back to last season.
Senior Jessia Parks backed up Barbis’ 20 kills with 14 of her own; she hit .429 in the match. The Spartans outhit the Falcons, .182 to .172, over the five sets. Kate Verhoff garnered 54 assists in the loss. Mandy Bastian had a match-high 25 digs.
Notre Dame will close out their season on Thursday, Nov. 5, with one more tilt on College Road. NDC will host Urbana at Murphy Gymnasium in a match slated to start at 7 p.m.
NOTES FROM THE NEST …
ALL EVEN: Tuesday’s loss evened NDC’s season record at 16 wins and 16 losses. On Thursday, Notre Dame will be looking for a win that would give them a record over .500 for a fourth straight season.
CASE CLOSED: NDC had won two straight in their series with Case Western Reserve, including a 3-1 victory over the Spartans in a match earlier this season (Sept. 12). The Falcons are 7-5 against Case in their last 12 match-ups between the Forest City neighbors. … The Blue & White finished the 2009 season with a 5-7 mark on the road.
DIG THIS: With her 25 digs on Tuesday night, Mandy Bastian has recorded 513 in 102 sets for the season. Her 5.0 digs per set currently ranks as the sixth-best single-season average in program history.