Most students use Fall Break as a time to relax and recover from their hectic schedules. The Irish, though, won't have this luxury, as they enter the heart of Big East play over break with four total matches.
Notre Dame (11-6, 4-2 Big East) will take on conference opponents DePaul, Syracuse and Marquette as well as one out of conference team, Western Michigan, over the next two weekends.
The Irish will look to bounce back from a disappointing weekend where they lost to both Louisville and Cincinnati, breaking their 19-game conference winning streak. Although the matches did fall in Notre Dame's favor, Irish coach Debbie Brown stressed that there were important lessons for the squad to take away from the losses.
"The two matches last weekend showed us that certain aspects of our game, which earlier in the season we had felt pretty good about, clearly need to be worked on and improved," she said.
Brown emphasized the need for improvement on the Irish's ‘point scoring side,' when the team is serving as opposed to receiving the serve.
"It is so important to score points and win rallies when you are serving," Brown said. "We had a real tough time with that. This involves better serving, blocking and transitions; all of which we will focus on before our next match."
Notre Dame will return to the court Friday when the team hosts DePaul (1-18, 0-6 Big East), but will be without junior outside hitter Kristen Dealy, who has been battling injuries.
"We want to give Kristen some time to heal," Brown said of the team's offensive leader. "This will mean we will need to look at some new lineups and options. Hopefully some new people will have the chance to play and get some game-experience."
The Irish will have a brief interlude from Big East play after the match against DePaul when the team travels to Western Michigan (13-6, 4-2 MAC) on Tuesday, Oct. 19, before returning to campus to continue their conference schedule. Notre Dame will take on Syracuse (20-2, 4-2 Big East) on Saturday, Oct. 23, and Marquette (11-7, 3-2 Big East) on Sunday, Oct. 24.
Brown emphasized that every conference game for the remainder of the season will be of the utmost importance to the Irish.
"Because of our two conference losses last weekend, we really need to finish strong and win every game from here on out," she said. "Even if we can't win a regular season conference championship, we need to earn a strong seed for the conference tournament."Notre Dame (11-6, 4-2 Big East) will take on conference opponents DePaul, Syracuse and Marquette as well as one out of conference team, Western Michigan, over the next two weekends.
The Irish will look to bounce back from a disappointing weekend where they lost to both Louisville and Cincinnati, breaking their 19-game conference winning streak. Although the matches weren't in Notre Dame's favor, Irish coach Debbie Brown stressed that there were important lessons for the squad to take away from the losses.
"The two matches last weekend showed us that certain aspects of our game, which earlier in the season we had felt pretty good about, clearly need to be worked on and improved," she said.
Brown emphasized the need for improvement on the Irish's ‘point scoring-side,' when the team is serving as opposed to receiving the serve.
"It is so important to score points and win rallies when you are serving," Brown said. "We had a real tough time with that. This involves better serving, blocking, and transitions; all of which we will focus on before our next match."
Notre Dame will return to the court Friday when the team hosts DePaul (1-18, 0-6 Big East), but will be without junior outside hitter Kristen Dealy, who has been battling injuries.
"We want to give Kristen some time to heal," Brown said of the team's offensive leader. "This will mean we will need to look at some new lineups and options. Hopefully some new people will have the chance to play and get some game-experience."
The Irish will have a brief interlude from Big East play after the match against DePaul when the team travels to Western Michigan (13-6, 4-2 MAC) on Tuesday, October 19, before returning to campus to continue their conference schedule. Notre Dame will take on Syracuse (20-2, 4-2 Big East) on Saturday, Oct.23, and Marquette (11-7, 3-2 Big East) on Sunday, Oct. 24.
Brown emphasized that every conference game for the remainder of the season will be of the utmost importance to the Irish.
"Because of our two conference losses last weekend, we really need to finish strong and win every game from here on out," she said. "Even if we can't win a regular season conference championship, we need to earn a strong seed for the conference tournament."
