I can’t think of many better ways to spend a Sunday. Sitting in the sunny stands of Melissa Cook Stadium, watching my first-ever softball game, I was beginning to understand the allure of bat-and-ball sports. Seeing Notre Dame’s finest put on a 6-0 clinic against Aquinas College certainly left an impression. A few hours later, I was sitting in the Purcell Pavilion, watching a similarly dominant performance by the Fighting Irish volleyball team through equally uncultured eyes. My main takeaway from the Irish 3-0 sweep of Clemson was a deep regret that my day-to-day life across the Atlantic features no equivalent high-flying volleyball culture.
I’m an exchange student at Notre Dame, and my time here will end just before Christmas. I have therefore made it my mission to experience as much as I can of the university’s fantastic offering of sports while I make my home under the dome. My true home is Dublin, Ireland, and I attend the University of Galway, where I completed two years of study before being given the chance to spread my wings stateside. I’m a journalism student, and hope to spend my life covering sports, so the prospect of studying at Notre Dame was incredibly exciting. I expected to be going to college football, basketball and hockey games. However, I don’t think I quite realized the diversity and quality of the sports programs on campus until I arrived.
Notre Dame football’s bye weekend presented the perfect opportunity to explore some of these top-class sports, most of which I have only ever seen on a TV screen during an Olympic summer. I was lucky with the scheduling too, as Sunday was my last chance to see the softball team in action before they ended their fall scrimmages to prepare for the season’s beginning in spring. The volleyball team, on the other hand, was eight games deep into their campaign, which runs through the semester. After extensive investigative journalism (browsing the Fighting Irish website), I came up with a plan for a sporting double-bill. I would catch the first of the softball games, then head just down the road for the volleyball.
I felt distinctly American as I took my seat at 11 a.m. Sunday morning. The game was just getting underway, and the autumn sun was glinting off the badass golden Fighting Irish helmets. The ladies in the Notre Dame dugout were already getting loud, and I was already feeling the need to wear a baseball cap. I had always assumed the hats were just a fashion convention carried over from the days of Babe Ruth, but now I realized their simple practicality. It gets bright at ball games. What can I say? Ireland is not known for putting the ‘sun’ in Sunday.
Even to a rookie observer, the difference in quality between the two sides was clear early on. Notre Dame built up a 2-0 lead after two innings, then made it 5-0 in the third and 6-0 in the fourth. The Fighting Irish bench stayed vocal throughout, especially as their teammates stepped up to pitch. It was these pitchers that particularly impressed me, as did the encouragement they received from the sidelines. Refrains of “Here we go Kami, we got you!” greeted sophomore pitcher Kami Kamzik every time she stared down the opposing hitter. Similar cries of “Let’s go babe!” serenaded junior Micaela Kastor as she struck out three Aquinas representatives back-to-back-to-back to close out the seventh inning and the game.
The proceedings only lasted one hour and 17 minutes, so I had some time before needing to move on to the second game of the day. I got talking to the parents of a few players, who were good enough to clarify a few spots of confusion I’d had during the game. I hadn’t been sure what the small cage to either side of the dugout was, and why some of the pitchers were in there for the better part of the game. That cage, they explained, is called the bullpen, and is used for relief pitchers to warm up in. Most pitchers know their place in the rotation and get warmed up in preparation for the moment they are set to enter the game. This was new information to me, although I imagine it may not be so for most of you.
I spent another few minutes talking to the group, and they explained to me the difference between infield and outfield, the annual calendar of softball competition and the etiquette of returning a foul ball. I had seen a sweet moment in the fifth inning when two young girls caught one, returned it to the Fighting Irish bullpen and came back grinning ear-to-ear, having met two of the pitchers. Most notably though, this kind collection of parents explained to me the significance of the entire Notre Dame team wearing number 22 for the fall scrimmage games - they do so to honor Melissa Cook. Cook, who the stadium is named after, was a former player whose untimely death shook the Notre Dame community in 2002. I really appreciated these parents telling her story to me, a complete outsider, and I told them as much. We soon said our goodbyes and I began my journey across the parking lot to see the volleyball team in action.
I arrived at Purcell Pavilion just as warmups were concluding and the leprechaun on duty was starting to hype up the crowd. Dancing through the stands and dishing out smiles and high-fives as he went, this particular leprechaun, Riley, was in his element. As a proud Irishman, I expected to harbor a degree of discomfort toward the somewhat stereotypical nature of Notre Dame’s famous mascot, but after seeing them in action for the past two months, I must admit, the leprechauns do a great job. They work miracles in maintaining and reviving an atmosphere, and Riley did some impeccable work at this Notre Dame-Clemson matchup. I’d never seen the simple act of handing out popcorn turn into a performance before, but apparently, that’s just something these leprechauns can do, captivating hundreds of supporters in the process.
One of the first sights I noticed was a large group of supporters sitting across the court from me, all wearing custom-made green and orange t-shirts, representing both sides of the contest. This, I soon found out from the jumbotron, was to celebrate the fact that two sisters, Katherine and Ella Sandt, were set to face off on opposite sides of the net. Katherine plays setter for Clemson, and Ella plays the same position for the Fighting Irish. The large group of supporters were presumably friends and family of the pair, gathered to celebrate this remarkable occasion. They served as a reliable soundtrack throughout the game, given they cheered for every point scored regardless of team.
The final scoreline of three sets to zero in favor of the Irish suggests a more comfortable affair than was reality for Notre Dame. There were moments in the second and third sets when the result looked far from certain. Clemson seemed to pick up momentum in the final stretch of play, but the perseverance of the girls in green was enough to secure a win. Not fully understanding volleyball, I likely missed layers of tactical subtlety apparent to the trained eye, however, what I can say without a doubt is that the efforts of Notre Dame graduate student libero Hattie Monson were extraordinary. I knew enough about volleyball going in to know that one player wears a different jersey than the rest of the team, but I didn’t realize the skill and intensity required to wear it.
To say I thoroughly enjoyed my day of Notre Dame sports would be an understatement. I will definitely be back at more volleyball games, and I’m seriously annoyed that I have likely seen my last softball game here. I’m glad I got to see my first one though. Those of you who will be here in spring better go support the team on my behalf.
I’ve still got a long list of teams I want to see play over the next few months: hockey, rugby, basketball, soccer, swimming and diving. The list goes on. I think women’s lacrosse is up next, just after the fall break. If it’s as enjoyable (and as dominant) as my Sunday double-header was, then I’m in for a treat.
