The Irish fell 3-0 in the Carrier Dome to ACC opponent Syracuse on Wednesday night.
Notre Dame (10-14, 4-9 ACC) lost to Syracuse (12-13, 7-6) 25-19 in the first set, 25-23 in the second set and 25-23 again in the third set.
The Irish started off well in the first match, with a couple kills from senior middle blocker Andie Olsen and junior outside hitter Toni Alugbue, bringing the early score of the set to 3-1.
A couple attack errors from the Irish brought Syracuse back into the set and gave it the lead. Syracuse kept the lead for the rest of the set, despite constant Irish advances.
The Irish looked as if they would catch up in the first set with a couple great plays from Olsen, senior outside hitter Nicole Smith, and senior right side Sammie Brown. But after a Syracuse timeout, the Orange rallied to take the set.
The Irish had a lead in both the second and third sets, yet could not hold on to pull out the victories.
The Irish started the second set strong, jumping out to a 10-6 lead. After a Syracuse timeout, the Irish continued their dominance, advancing the score to 15-9 off kills from senior setter Maggie Brindock, junior middle blocker Jeni Houser and Smith.
The Orange then began to pick up speed, and quickly started to take over the court. Syracuse scored 10 of the set's final 11 points to rally from a 22-15 deficit to take a 25-23 victory.
Throughout the third set, the Irish and Syracuse played evenly, staying within three points of each other.
Syracuse held the biggest lead at 12-9 after a kill from sophomore outside hitter SilviUattara. But a series of five service and attack errors from Syracuse put the Irish in the lead at 14-12.
The score eventually was tied 23-23, creating a highly-pressured end of the set for the Irish. Syracuse pulled ahead with a powerhouse kill from Uattara and then clinched the game off an Irish attack error.
The Irish had a total of 43 kills. Alugbue led the Irish with 11 kills with an attack percentage of .233, and Houser came in second with nine kills with an attack percentage of .211. Olsen had eight kills with an attack percentage of .538. Brindock tallied 32 assists and senior libero Andrea McHugh totaled 12 digs.
The Irish will continue their action-packed week Saturday against Boston College. The Irish will begin play at 5 p.m. in Chestnut Hill at Power Gymnasium.
