[ATrain]

The Lady Flames take on more tough competition, this time in South Bend, Ind. at Notre Dame. They open the tourney with the Fighting Irish of the Big East before taking on MAC competitor Western Michigan and ending against a west coast team, UC Irvine. GO LADY FLAMES!!!

[thesportscritic]

the Notre dame game can be watched online for free this upcoming friday. http://www.und.com Go to their volleyball section and there should be a video tab to the game.

[chopertony]

A quick scouting report on the next tournament.....

Notre Dame, currently 3-6 this year. They went 15-13 last year. Smaller blocking front line than the teams we faced last week.

W. Michigan, currently 7-1 this year. They went 21-12 last year, first in their conference. Will also pose a smaller blocking front line compared to the competition last week.

U.C. Irvine, currently 4-6 this year. They went 21-11 last year.

If the Flames have worked out the minor kinks from last week, they will compete with all of these teams with the sets being close at the end.

This will be a good weekend for the Liberty Flames!

[Vadim]

Hope all of you who can go to the tournament cheer loudly for the ladies. We will be trying to watch the ND game from Rome. The Pope has nothing on our Flames.

[Sly Fox]

When in Rome ...

[coolhandluke]

When in Rome ...

yes, continue...

[chopertony]

Vadim, who is filling in for you court side for the on scene updates?

[BJWilliams]

When in Rome ...

don't drink the water! (Yes I know how it REALLY finishes but we're not gonna go there)

[ATrain]

Have fun in Rome, and safe travels

[ATrain]

Notre Dame Fighting Irish so far this year:
3-0 W v. IPFW
3-1 W v. Nevada
3-1 L v. Valparaiso
3-1 L v. Eastern Michigan
3-1 W v. Washington State
3-0 L v. Idaho
3-1 L v. Cal Poly
3-2 L v. California
3-0 L v. Minnesota

UC Irvine Anteaters so far this year:
3-0 W v. San Diego State
3-1 L v. San Diego
3-0 W v. Albany
3-1 L v. Kansas State
3-0 W v. Portland
3-1 L v. Arizona State
3-0 L v. Oregon
3-1 L v. San Jose State
3-0 W v. Pittsburgh
3-0 L v. Loyola Marymount

Western Michigan Broncos so far this year:
3-0 W v. Pacific
3-0 W v. Alabama-Birmingham
3-0 W v. Oakland
3-0 W v. Western Carolina
3-1 W v. Illinois State
3-2 L v. Wake Forest
3-2 W v. Delaware
3-0 W v. East Carolina

[chopertony]

A Lesson On Liberty ...
Liberty became the first visiting volleyball team to win a set at Kansas State's Ahearn Field House this season, and the Lady Flames snapped the Wildcats' streak of 297 straight matches with an ace during last week's meeting ... however, No. 19 Kansas State was able to post a 3-1 victory in the final match of the Varney's Kansas State Invitational ... Liberty placed junior middle blocker Chelaine McCarty on the all-tournament team after winning one of its three matches in the tournament ... it was the third consecutive all-tournament team McCarty has made this season ... the Flames saw their seven-match road winning streak come to an end ... previously, Liberty had not dropped a road contest since falling, 3-1, at Winthrop on Sept. 29, 2007.

[ATrain]

Series History with Notre Dame:
Series Notes ...
• The only meeting between Notre Dame and Liberty came during the 1997 NCAA Tournament ... that match, played in Fayetteville, Ark., resulted in a 3-0 win for the Irish ... they surrendered only 14 total points to the Flames while playing 15-point matches.

[Liberofan]

I predict the flames will even the score in the series history with Notre Dame. The Irish think we are a warm up team for them. Little do they know that they are the warm up team for Liberty on Friday night. Their toast!!

After looking at the scouting reports, records etc. this looks too me like 4 very evenly matched teams. The only common opponent is Kansas State for Liberty and UC Irvine, both losing 1-3.

I agree with chopertony, if we work out the kinks and stay focused they will all be good close matches and ones we can win.

Show'em your stuff Flames!!!

I have friends, family, fans coming from Michigan, Illinois and Indiana to cheer Kelly and the team.
We will certainly miss Vadim at court side. Enjoy Rome, bring back some pics.

Deb and I are staying at Springhill Suites, Mishawaka, IN for the weekend if anyone wants to hook-up.

[chopertony]

Yeah Liberofan, I like the way you think. Lets make the Irish our warm up team and set the tone that the Flames are in the house!

[ATrain]

Jerry always dreamed of beating Notre Dame in South Bend...why not start on the volleyball court?

[Vadim]

We watched online from Italy. Looked like we just never clicked. Passing looked weak and our block never seemed to show up. Hard to win like that. Hopefully we will not get too discouraged by this loss and will come back strong tomorrow. Love our Flames!

[chopertony]

Also watched the live video. The team basically had a rough night with not a whole lot going well for them. Saturday will be a new day and the Flames will get back on track and notch a win!

Go Flames!

[ATrain]

Lady Flames fall 3-1 to Western Michigan

[thesportscritic]

the lady flames volleyball team salvages a match in this tournament by defeating UC Irvine 3-0. Last time we faced this team was back in 2004 under when Coach Pinder took over the program and we didn't fare very well. It is nice to get some payback from that loss.

[Sly Fox]

It is also great to snap the 4-game skid before we get started in conference play. I'll bet the girls are anxious to head to South Carolina and catch a break from the Northern powerhouses.

[Stevev]

We picked up a huge win today over Cal Irvine. Knowing about how great the volleyball is in the state of California this win is big. I would not be too surprised if we go undefeated the rest of the year just by looking at our schedule and who is left. The volleyball program that we have and all of the sucess that we have achieved the last 2 seasons is something that we all can be proud of.

[ATrain]

Definitely good to get a win over a team from California. I know Coach Pinder has to be happy about beating a team that won against us in his first season at the helm. Congrats Coach and the Lady Flames.