Over the weekend, Notre Dame volleyball finished the season’s first month by getting underway with Atlantic Coast Conference action. The Irish played out a pair of 3-1 contests at home, falling to No. 3 Stanford on Friday before defeating Cal on Sunday. As October and a full month of conference play arrives, Notre Dame sits at 8-3 overall and 1-1 within the ACC.
Irish battle Stanford, taking set two
Despite Friday’s loss to the Cardinal, Notre Dame did something it had never done against a top-10-ranked team under Salima Rockwell: claim a set. The Irish made for a tough customer against Stanford, scoring at least 17 points in all four sets and winning set two by a 25-23 score.
As anticipated, Stanford started fast, scoring each of the night’s first three points. Notre Dame, however, hung in and briefly took a 6-5 lead in set one. The Cardinal then embarked on a 6-0 scoring run and would ultimately cruise to a 25-17 set victory. Stanford set the tone with a .310 hitting percentage and five service aces — two of them by Taylor Yu — to overcome four kills and an ace from junior Irish outside hitter Lucy Trump.
The Cardinal appeared similarly comfortable to open up set two, marching out to leads of 6-1 and 12-7. However, as Stanford’s success on the serve dwindled away, the Irish rallied, pulling ahead on a Trump kill at 16-15 to force a Cardinal timeout. Stanford then answered right back, moving into a 21-19 advantage before a kill from senior outside hitter Sydney Palazzolo put the Irish up 23-22. The hotly contested set finally ended when the Cardinal, who made seven service errors in set two alone, misfired on a serve with the Irish at set point. Despite carrying a .138 hitting percentage that paled in comparison to Stanford’s .276 mark, the Irish had found a way.
Stanford would return to business in set three, following the lead of Elia Rubin and her five kills. The Cardinal, who forced the Irish into nine attack errors in the set, raced out to an 8-3 lead and never looked back, capturing the set at 25-18. Notre Dame’s attack struggled again in set four, but Stanford left the door slightly ajar with six service errors. The Irish, meanwhile, notched three aces to combat the Cardinal and their lofty hitting percentage of .340. In the end, despite Notre Dame holding close with a 15-13 deficit at one point, Stanford led from wire to wire and won the set and match at 25-20.
As usual, Stanford did a little bit of everything well to take down the Irish. Elia Rubin paced the Cardinal attack with 17 kills at a .325 hitting percentage. Sami Francis, who finished with nine blocks, combined with Lizzy Andrew for 17 kills at a hitting percentage just below .500. Yu added five service aces.
Notre Dame, meanwhile, also played with balance but didn’t receive high-end contributions to the same degree. Palazzolo double-doubled with 10 kills and 10 digs but could only muster a .025 hitting percentage. Senior setter Phyona Schrader posted nine kills, 15 assists and 12 digs, falling just short of another triple-double. The Irish also suffered a disadvantage at the net, totaling 6.5 blocks to Stanford’s 13.
Irish flip the script on Cal
In Sunday afternoon’s matchup against Cal, the Irish accomplished everything they couldn't two days earlier. They won set one, set three and set four, attacked more efficiently, were better at the net and got a triple-double out of Schrader. She racked up 12 kills, 18 assists and 13 digs, hitting .429 while Palazzolo posted four service aces and a dozen kills at .286. Overall, Notre Dame outhit Cal .315 to .286
Set one opened competitively, with Maggie Li leading the Golden Bears out to an 18-16 advantage. Freshman middle blocker Anna Bjork would turn the tides for the Irish, swatting back-to-back kills to level the score at 18-18. Trump then added a kill of her own, moving the Irish into a one-point lead. Another Trump kill and block assist would bring the score to 21-19 Notre Dame, inciting a Cal timeout. Coming out of the break, the Irish remained on the hunt, and, with Trump at the serve, tallied three straight points to win the set at 25-20.
The Golden Bears punched back in set two, playing incredibly clean volleyball to bury the Irish at 25-13. Cal hit .464 in the set while committing zero reception errors, also posting a lofty sideout percentage of 92 to keep Notre Dame from building momentum at the service line. The Irish returned to their set one form in the third set, breaking out of a 6-6 deadlock early on to win at 25-16. This time, Notre Dame made no reception errors while Cal’s offense dried up to the tune of a negative hitting percentage. Palazzolo also provided the Irish an extra boost with a trio of service aces.
Set four started much like set three did, as another 6-6 tie ensued and Cal remained right behind the Irish at 12-10. However, hitting at a remarkable clip of .500, Notre Dame took off on a 13-5 run to wrap up the weekend with a match-clinching, 25-15 set win. Schrader finished with her best set of the weekend, contributing six kills on just seven total attempts along with five assists and four digs.
This week, the Irish will remain at Purcell Pavilion to take on No. 13 Georgia Tech (Friday, 6:30 p.m.) and Clemson (Sunday, 1 p.m.)
