PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Fifth-seeded Notre Dame upended fourth-seeded Villanova Friday morning at Pittsburgh’s Fitzgerald Fieldhouse, 3-1 (25-20, 25-17, 21-25, 25-14), in the opening round of the 2010 BIG EAST Conference Volleyball Championship.

The Irish will now play today at 1 p.m. in a semifinal match against the winner of the contest between No. 1 Cincinnati and No. 8 USF.

In what was the fourth meeting — all Irish victories — between the two programs in the BIG EAST Championship, Notre Dame (18-11) left the building with a spot in the league tournament’s semifinals for the 16th straight season. Villanova (23-7) saw its record-breaking campaign come to a close after making its first tournament appearance since 1997, as the Irish avenged their regular-season loss to the Wildcats.

Junior Kristen Dealy and sophomore Hilary Eppink each had 15 kills, as Dealy grouped her effort with 15 digs and three blocks. Eppink hit .375 with four blocks and BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Andrea McHugh pounded 12 kills with a team-high 17 digs.

Freshman Sammie Brown had 27 assists and a pair of aces with classmate Andie Olsen adding six kills on 14 errorless swings with five blocks.

An all-around output by senior Kellie Sciacca (five kills, three aces, five digs and four blocks) helped the Irish hit .314 while holding the Wildcats to a .193 average.

Morgan Petkovich led all players with 18 kills.

Sciacca and Eppink each had a pair of kills before either team reached the 10-point mark in the opener. Villanova held an 11-5 lead that Notre Dame chopped away thanks to a six-point swing behind McHugh’s serve. Trailing 19-18, Notre Dame scored on the final seven rallies of the set with McHugh once again leading the way from behind the service stripe.