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Notre Dame rides hot streak into Dig For Life Tournament
Notre Dame's only loss so far in 2024 was a five-set defeat at home against Farmington to start the volleyball season.
Since then, the Bulldogs have won four straight matches leading up to the Dig for Life Tournament on Friday and Saturday at the Show Me Center.
Bulldogs head coach Meridith Brinkmeyer attributes this fast start to the teams' "energy," "chemistry," and "the focus on not letting us dwell on mistakes."
"The excitement that they've had this season has been really the biggest thing," Brinkmeyer said.
Notre Dame recently defeated Scott City in straight sets on Wednesday at home. Four Bulldogs had double-digit digs, including senior Courtney Tatum, who had a team-high 22 kills and 11 digs. Junior Claudia Jones led the Bulldogs with 31 assists and senior Lyla Martin led with 18 digs.
"Courtney Tatum has been a strong player for us, along with Claudia Jones," Brinkmeyer said. "They've both done very good things, offensively and defensively.
The Dig For Life Tournament, a local tradition since 2000, founded by former Southeast Missouri State University volleyball coach Cindy Gannon, takes place at the Show Me Center, SEMO Student Rec Center, and Cape Girardeau SportsPlex. Through funding from both corporate and private donors, including tournament sponsor St. Francis, the nearly 62-team tournament has provided thousands of free mammograms to women who otherwise couldn't afford this screening procedure.
The Bulldogs finished in the tournament semifinals after wins over Cape Central and St. Vincent in the first two rounds last season. It serves as a solid early-season measuring stick for local teams including Notre Dame.
"The Dig for Life is always fun, just a local tournament with so many teams in it," Brinkmeyer said. "I think the girls are excited, they're always excited to get to play up at SEMO and just to get that experience on that big court there and with some teams we don't always normally get to see in the regular season. It's nice to play some good competition there."
Should they have a good run, the Bulldogs will likely run into Saxony Lutheran and renew their rivalry. The Crusaders defeated the Bulldogs in the Class 3 District 1 championship match the previous year and Brinkmeyer is looking forward to potentially seeing them again soon.
"It's always just a good game, a good rivalry game between the two of us," Brinkmeyer said. "Win or lose, you're always going to get a hard battle back and forth, and those are some of the most fun games."
12 of the biggest area programs make up the red bracket, which plays all of their games at the Show Me Center and SEMO Recreation Center. The black bracket plays their games at all three venues. The first slate of matches takes place at 4:30 p.m., on Friday, Sept. 13, and the red bracket playoff matches begin at 11:20 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14.