The Notre Dame Varsity Volleyball team won its third consecutive and 11th overall Regional Title as they downed North Branch 26-24, 25-9, 25-17 to improve to 47-10-2 on the season. The Irish will advance to the Division Two Quarterfinal match to be held at St Clair Community College on Tuesday against Regina.
The Irish took the lead in the first set, and never trailed, but the Broncos of North Branch fought hard down the stretch to tie the set at 23 and 24 before a kill and an ace by Aly Borellis sealed the victory.
The second set was all Notre Dame with the Irish leading from start to finish on their way to a convincing 25-9 win as the defense dug everything that North Branch sent over.
In the final set, North Branch shook things up and changed their rotation to take a pair of one point leads early in the set (their only leads in the match) before the Irish went ahead at 4-3 and never trailed again.
The Notre Dame backcourt played stellar defense for the evening led by junior libero Olivia Kowalkowski’s 16 digs, five assists, 21 service receptions and nine points, including a pair of aces. Sophomore Josie Bloom contributed 11 digs, nine serve receptions, six points and three aces. Freshmen Ally Berent added eight digs and six serve receptions. At the net, Borellis slammed home 18 kills, three blocks, 13 digs, 32 assists, nine points and 32 aces. Sophomore Sophia added 11 kills while Bianca Giglio and Theresa Carrier each added eight. Emily Mohr chipped in four kills. Margo Sudzina scored a team-high 10 points and dished out 14 assists.