Notre Dame dropped both of its matches to ACC foes over the weekend, losing both in five sets.
The Irish (5-18, 2-10 ACC) lost, 3-2, to Georgia Tech on Friday at their home Purcell Pavilion and fell to Boston College 3-2 on the road in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, on Sunday afternoon.
Against the Yellow Jackets (11-13, 4-7), Notre Dame held a 2-1 lead after three sets but dropped the final two sets, both by slim margins. Notre Dame posted set scores of 17-25, 25-12, 11-25, 25-23 and 15-11 against Georgia Tech. The sets consisted of only eight ties and five lead changes overall, though the Irish did record 10 blocks as a team.
For Notre Dame, freshman outside hitter Sydney Kuhn delivered another strong performance Friday night. She recorded a career-high 15 digs and 11 kills on the evening.
Senior middle blocker Jeni Houser supplemented Kuhn’s productivity and delivered the third double-double of her career. Houser tallied a career-high 12 digs as well as 13 kills on the night, as the senior moved to 11th place in Notre Dame’s all-time career kill list. Her evening also featured two service aces and five blocks.
The match against Boston College (9-12, 4-6) was the second time the two teams had met in two weeks. Notre Dame overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Eagles at the Purcell Pavilion on Oct. 19. Boston College had been on a slide since that match, losing No. 8 North Carolina (3-0) and NC State (3-1), while the Irish similarly continued their own three-game losing streak.
This time around the Irish mounted a similar comeback after falling behind 2-0 once again. However, the Irish were unable to best the Eagles twice in two weeks and fell 3-2. Losing the first matches with scores of 25-21 and 25-18, Notre Dame won the next two sets, 21-25 and 23-25. After winning the third and fourth sets, Notre Dam ultimately dropped the final frame, 15-6.
Compared to Friday's performance against Georgia Tech, the match saw 22 ties and 10 lead changes. Houser was a strong performer for Notre Dame on Sunday, recording her second double-double of the weekend. On Sunday, she recorded 12 digs, 10 kills, 7 assists, 4 blocks and a service ace. Fellow senior libero Kathleen Severyn was another leader for the Irish, recording 11 digs. Kuhn also matched Houser and delivered 12 digs.
Notre Dame returns to its home Purcell Pavilion next Sunday to host ACC-rival Louisville at 1 p.m.
