The Lady Pios, who had two games postponed last week due to Hurricane Isaac, opened the season at home Tuesday and swept a three-game set from last year’s Division III state runnerup, St. Louis.
“This was a big win for us,” said Notre Dame coach Tara Young. “We did some things extremely well that I was a little uncertain about. We made some big plays, we were really moving well and our net play was decent.”
But, said Young, there is definitely room for improvement.
“We don’t have to go completely back to the drawing board, but we see places that we can continue to improve and that makes practices a little bit easier,” she said.
The Lady Pios took total control of the match early by taking a 25-12 victory in the opening set.
“We came out and we were ready,” said Young. “We were operating on all cylinders.”
However, the dominating victory in the first set was cause for concern for Young.
“One of our Achilles heels over the last few years, even though we’ve been extremely successful, is beating a team like that in the first game and then the second game is just a complete letdown,” said Young.
And that looked to be the case against St. Louis as the Lady Saints stormed out to a 7-2 lead.
However, the Lady Pios rallied and eventually took a two-set lead with a 25-23 victory.
“We dug ourselves a hole, but, remarkably, we held our composure and we battled back,” said Young. “We came back from a fairly big deficit so I think that says a lot about our team. These girls clearly have what it takes. They demonstrated it in the first game, but they probably demonstrated it even more in the second game.
“We weren’t playing horribly, we were just playing a little sloppy. But yet we still managed to figure out a way to win.”
The Lady Pios took an early lead in the third and final set and held off a late rally to claim a 25-22 victory.
They were led by Megan Malmay (10 kills, 23 digs, 1 ace) and Lindsey Meyer (4 kills, 1 dig, 1 ace).
“Megan was our No. 2 outside hitter last year as a junior and this year, we’re expecting big things from her,” said Young.. “And Lindsey got a little playing time last year, but this year she’s stepping into more of a significant go-to role.”
Katherine Kirsch added three kills and seven digs and libero Taylor Boulet had 21 digs.
Also contributing in the victory were Alex Miller (1 kill, 9 assists, 7 digs), Sam Lyons (1 kill, 8 assists, 7 digs, 1 block) and Grace Morgan (1 kill, 1 dig).
The Lady Pios, who took on Comeaux last night, will travel to Lafayette today to take on Ascension Episcopal at 6 p.m.
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