Cal Poly Falls in Three Sets to Notre Dame in USC Classic Opener

Friday, September 7

Los Angeles, Calif.

4:30 pm

Notre Dame

Cal Poly Falls in Three Sets to Notre Dame in USC Classic Opener

9/7/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Cal Poly volleyball team opened the USC Classic with a 3-0 loss to Notre Dame. Set scores went 25-17, 25-18 and 25-20. With the loss Cal Poly falls to 1-5 on the season while Notre Dame improves to 5-2.

Cal Poly will continue with tournament play on Saturday when the Mustangs play No. 5 and host USC at 10 am and No. 17 San Diego at 4:30 pm.

Junior Holly Franks led the Mustangs with eight kills on 22 swings while senior Molly Pon tallied five kills. Juniors Megan McConnell and Chelsea Hardin each added three kills.

The Mustangs had three players with eight digs each with freshman Maddie Kuber leading the team with 11 assists. McConnell and Kuber were each credited with two block assists.

Notre Dame was led by Jeni Houser with 17 kills with Toni Alugbue adding 10. Taylor Morey had 11 digs to lead the Irish.

Cal Poly as a team hit .022 in the three sets accounting for 22 kills on 93 swings with 20 errors while UND hit .354 with 47 kills on 99 swings and 12 errors.

The Mustangs opened up the scoring in the first set with a kill by Hardin with Nicole Kessler getting an ace. Cal Poly did not surrender the lead until UND nosed out to a 10-9 advantage.

Cal Poly called a timeout when UND went on a 4-1 run and held a 14-10 advantage. Out of the timeout the Mustangs were within two (15-13) when UND went on a 5-1 run and held a 20-14 advantage. UND kept the pressure on and pulled away for a 25-17 first set win. In the first set the Mustangs hit .059 compared to UND's .324.

In the second set the Mustangs gained a 9-7 advantage forcing a UND timeout. Cal Poly maintained the lead and expanded it to 11-8 on a kill by Holly Franks. UND went on a10-2 run and went on to a 25-18 win in the second set. UND hit .343 while limiting the Mustangs to a .000 hitting percentage.

In the third set, Cal Poly held a 14-12 lead on an assisted block by Kuber and McConnell forcing a UND timeout. UND bounced back and took a 17-15 lead with the Mustangs calling a timeout. Cal Poly would get within three at 21-19 but would get no closer with UND winning the third set and the match, 25-20. UND hit .400 in the third set with the Mustangs hitting .000.