Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/87622
ND SPORTS reer, she is projected to seize the pro- gram's marquee mantle, after Diggins graduates. "There's going to be a top four, and then five people that are all pretty similar. I hope that somebody breaks ahead and really shows us that they deserve the playing time," McGraw said. "Otherwise it is going to be a constantly rotating spot." Early favorites to fill the fifth starting Irish Roundup then. They scored 10 goals in a pair of wins over Big East foes Pittsburgh and Georgetown in the first week of October, but followed those performances with a 2-1 loss to Northwestern. Senior Ryan Finley scored two goals in each win over the Panthers and Hoyas, and was named the Co-National Player of the Week by Top Drawer Soccer. The Irish have three conference games left on the schedule before playoffs begin Oct. 31. The No. 24 Irish climbed back into the polls this month by stringing together eight straight games without a loss. The Notre Dame defense has allowed only five goals during that stretch, two of them in a tie against Rutgers Oct. 7. Freshman Crystal Thomas scored both goals in that game to help keep the Irish unbeaten in conference WOMEN'S SOCCER (10-3-2, 6-0-1) play. Notre Dame is one of three undefeated teams at the top of the Big East. The team's last regular- season game is Oct. 19 at DePaul. tie for second place in the Big East midway through the season. Both Eppink and Houser registered more than nine kills per match during the team's three-game winning streak from Sept. 30-Oct. 7. The Irish lost only one set while cruising past Syracuse, Connecticut and St. John's. VOLLEYBALL (12-6, 5-1) Behind front-line hitters sophomore Jeni Houser and senior Hilary Eppink the Irish have jumped into a year. Notre Dame battled against Michigan, Michigan State, Alabama and Northern Illinois. They placed four team members — Blake Moros, Greg Andrews, Spencer Talmadge and Wyatt McCoy — on the all-tournament team. Moros was voted the weekend's most valuable player. MEN'S TENNIS The Irish won 37 of 47 matches while hosting the Tom Fallon Invitational, their first home meet of the — Dan Murphy MEN'S SOCCER (10-3, 2-2 BIG EAST) The seventh-ranked Irish have come back down to earth after a 7-0 start to the year, going 3-3 since slot are 5-8 senior guard Kaila Turner, who McGraw said could be the team's top three-point shooter, and sopho- more Markisha Wright, whose 6-2 size will be needed to assist Achonwa the way she was able to take some of the burden off Peters last season. Replacing the 6-2 Peters, maybe the most gifted athlete in the McGraw era, will be the most challenging task. The Irish were able to press consis-