Notre Dame volleyball showed a glimpse into its full potential in the nascent stages of the 2023 season, including electrifying early victories over Oklahoma, Boston College and North Carolina. However, a young team led by a young coach faded fast in the second half, losing 10 of 11 games to end the season at 11-15, a shocking finish for a team that started 8-2. With that year’s experience under their belts, and supported by an early-season stretch of seven of eight games at the comfort of home for almost an entire month, the Irish have the chance to start strong again and keep pace as October turns to November.
Head coach Salima Rockwell is fresh off offering her knowledge to a nationwide audience as an analyst for indoor volleyball at the 2024 Paris Olympics and is set to begin her third season at the helm. This is a big opportunity for her to turn the corner, as her first two years have yielded just 21 wins. She is far from the only familiar face returning to the court for the Irish in 2024. Most of the starting lineup from 2023 is back. Senior outside hitter Sydney Palazzolo has more than 1000 career kills and averaged 3.85 per set as a junior, second in the ACC. Swiss army knife setter Phyona Schrader is the only other senior on the roster. The lefty played all over the court last year as the only Irish player with at least one game with 10 kills, one with 10 assists and one with five blocks.
Underclassmen liberos Alyssa Manitzas and Maisie Alexander will have one more year to learn from captain Hattie Monson, who is a massive piece for Rockwell as a graduate student. Alongside Palazzolo, junior Lucy Trump and sophomore Ava Lange will combine for most of the kills for Notre Dame. Lange especially should take a step forward after a solid 228 kills in 2023 action. New to the fold is Ella Sandt, a graduate transfer from St. Mary’s who will replace Nicole Drewnick as the primary setter. She was a four-year starter with the Gaels and racked up an impressive 690 assists. Her 6.02 assists per set ranks 10th all-time in St. Mary’s program history. She is also effective at surprise attacks, with a .277 attack percentage — also top-10.
The Irish open their season on Saturday with two games against Villanova and Santa Clara, which is hosting the Catholic Challenge tournament. Notre Dame visits Michigan, Mississippi State and Northwestern before returning for their home opener against Colorado State at Compton Family Ice Arena on Sept. 13. They also play there the following day. Starting with those two games, the Irish play at home seven times and only travel once between Sept. 13 and Oct. 6. Their first four ACC games are at home, starting with a matchup against Stanford on Sept. 27. Conference plays runs through the end of November. If the Irish can find their 8-2 magic from last fall and overcome late-season fatigue, they could push for their first postseason berth under Salima Rockwell in 2024. Notre Dame has enough significant returning pieces to make it happen, but it's playing in a difficult conference — one that just added three new teams, no less.
