Notre Dame head coach Debbie Brown earned her 500th career win Saturday with a victory over Seton Hall - a team to whom Brown and the Irish have never lost.
The Irish (9-5, 3-0 Big East) swept the Pirates (9-7, 1-2 Big East) 30-22, 30-22, 30-24 Saturday to win their third straight match.
Notre Dame is now in a three-way tie for first place in the Big East with St. John's (4-0) and South Florida (2-0).
Junior co-captain Adrianna Stasiuk blasted a match-leading 12 kills and also recorded 10 digs.
It was Stasiuk's tenth double-double of the season and she now has 169 total kills - four behind team leader Christina Kaelin.
Senior co-captain Danielle Herndon tallied 19 digs - the 12th time this season the libero has led the Irish in that category.
The Irish defense stifled the Pirate attack and held them to a .091 hitting percentage - the lowest Notre Dame has held an opposing offense to since Nov. 19, 2005 against Cincinnati. Notre Dame shot .225 for the three games.
Notre Dame parried a late Seton Hall comeback in the third game to take the match on a kill from freshman Megan Fesl that was assisted by freshman Jamel Nicholas.
The Pirates went on a small run to reduce the Irish lead to 23-19, but Notre Dame went on a 7-5 run to close out the match.
Seton Hall had a strong start to the first game, opening up a 9-5 lead before the Irish could respond. Consecutive kills from Stasiuk put the Irish back in the lead in a big way. The score climbed to 21-12 before the Pirates recovered and moved within four points.
A 6-1 run closed out the opening game with a kill from sophomore Justine Stremick as the game-winner.
A strategic timeout salvaged the second game for the Irish and preserved the shutout. The Irish took a 20-13 lead, before the Pirates stormed back to make the score 21-19. Notre Dame took the timeout, ran off a 9-3 stretch and capped it with a service ace from Fesl.
It was the first time this season that Seton Hall has lost at home and the fourth time that Notre Dame has swept an opponent.
Brown started her head-coaching career 22 years ago at Arizona State and spent three years with the U.S. National Team prior to taking the Notre Dame job in 1991.
The Observer could not reach Brown for comment Saturday night.
The Irish take on Marquette at the Joyce Center Friday at 4 p.m. and host Syracuse at 1 p.m. Sunday.
