Over the weekend, Notre Dame volleyball defeated both Virginia and Virginia Tech at Purcell Pavilion.
The Irish got off to a fast start in Friday’s 3-0 sweep of the Cavaliers, with sophomore outside hitter Morgan Gaerte earning her 200th kill of the season on the first point, which also kick-started a 7-4 run featuring other kills from junior outside hitter Sydney Helmers and freshman opposite hitter Mae Kordas. The set went by fairly quickly for Notre Dame as it won 25-19 and hit .324 while keeping the Cavaliers to a low .067.
The second set took more effort from the Irish as they traded possession with Virginia quite often, and when Notre Dame was down 16-14, it was able to go on a 6-1 run led by a kill from senior setter Harmony Sample. The set ended on an ace made by senior outside hitter Lucy Trump and pushed the Irish to a 2-0 lead against the Cavaliers. The third set was quick for the Irish — and record-breaking — as they went on very long runs and were able to close the set 25-17.
By the end of the night, Helmers broke her career high of 17 kills, seven of which came from the first set alone and set the tone for the rest of the match. Kordas reset her career high for kills with 10 and was the most effective hitter with a .556, and Gaerte became 13th in the NCAA in kills per set after hitting 10 against Virginia. Sample had 15 assists, while freshman setter Maya Baker had 17.
Coming off the win against Virginia, the Irish were ecstatic to get back on the court, especially after a successful Saturday in the cathedral of college football. However, unlike their game against Virginia, it was significantly slower than expected. Three points into the game, there was an early challenge from Notre Dame about an aggressive attack off a scrappy retrieval, but the referees kept their call, forcing the Irish to lose one of their challenges. Despite the harsh call, there was a moment between head coach Salima Rockwell and her team where anyone watching could tell how much she cared for her girls on the court, fighting as hard as she could for them and trusting them completely to put a challenge on the line. Despite the challenge not going the way Notre Dame wanted it to, sophomore middle Grace Langer stole the point back from Virginia Tech with a massive kill.
The first set was a roller coaster of skills with early unforced errors from the Hokies, such as net violations and missed serves, plus they couldn’t find great passing momentum as they were aced back-to-back by Helmers. Virginia Tech, despite starting off its defense slower than it wanted to, was able to find holes in the Notre Dame block and use those to its advantage, all while finding opportunities to shut Gaerte down at the net, during which sophomore middle Isabella Mishler and freshman outside Adeline Hundl became key. Gaerte was able to overcome the pressure and even hit around a towering three-person block and earned three aces, putting the Hokies in their head as the Irish pushed the score to 14-9. Throughout the entirety of the game, Virginia Tech struggled to stay in system with its passes, thus making it difficult to get a solid swing on the ball and earn points to side-out. Sophomore middle blocker Anna Bjork stayed consistent and big at the net for the Irish the entire game, even earning the final block of the set.
To start the second set, Gaerte had an early kill, followed by an early pancake from freshman Maya Evens to shift toward a more positive momentum despite a slower start than expected. The Hokies continued their defensive pressure, especially against Gaerte, consistently putting up a three-woman block. Despite how difficult it is for their outside hitter to come all the way across the net and set up a stable block, graduate outside hitter Ainsley Ranstead became a crucial player in this. Virginia Tech remained equally aggressive in the back row, diving and flying for every ball, largely due to its libero change where its had freshman Ivy Cooper switch into the jersey after the first set, when there was some switching between graduate student Erica Fava and sophomore Ece Yildiz. On the other side of the court, the Irish struggled getting the first ball touch, putting the setters in tough conditions where they had to attempt to dump the ball instead of setting one of the hitters. What put Notre Dame behind in the second set was that Gaerte struggled to make serves, which was what had helped them in the previous set earn the lead. Despite both teams having 21 points against one another, there were impeccable defensive maneuvers from the Irish, with Evens literally diving into the cheerleaders. An aggressive swing that went long gave the Hokies the set, making it 1-1.
Notre Dame saw a fast 6-1 start in set three, started by an ace from Gaerte, a big swing from Kordas and a sixth point coming from a block from Helmers combined with a staredown across the net at the end. The Hokies’ Mishler continued to make a name for herself as she took a swing off her head from Gaerte when she had gone up to block, but quickly turned around to her teammates, setting her a fast three-ball and getting the kill for Virginia Tech. Mishler was also the player who, whenever the pass was perfect, the setter would find, displaying her consistency and reliability as a player. The Hokies also made a significant defensive adjustment, deciding to put up a three-woman block against Helmers, which became crucial for them in shutting down the Irish offense. The set was tied 22-22 with Helmers pushing it to 24 with two kills along with tons of defensive effort from the Irish, with them diving almost into the press bench and eventually ending the set in a block. This pushed the match to 2-1 in favor of the Irish.
Notre Dame started off the fourth set very strong with a huge block from Kordas, a block by Langer to shut down Mishler and an aggressive defense. However, the Hokies did a great job of finding holes in Notre Dame’s back row and converting their hits there. The Irish were extremely aggressive, but to what extent did that hurt them? They forced lots of swings out of bounds because they were trying to hit hard and fast, not necessarily focused on where it would land. Despite the attacking errors, big points for Notre Dame came from kills. One in particular came from Helmers, and afterwards she and Rockwell shared a moment where they pointed at each other, congratulating one for getting the kill and the other for telling her where to hit. The Irish celebrated the 21st point with a kill from Kordas and the 22nd by a blocked overpass from Gaerte’s serve by Helmers, while Mishler had a kill to stop the run. This stop made Notre Dame get in its head with many aggressive swings heading straight out. Kordas was given another chance, and she earned the 23rd point. Aggressive net efforts earned the 24th and another kill from Kordas finished the game for the Irish.
Now 7-7 overall and 4-2 in ACC play, Notre Dame returns home on Friday for their “Irish Wear Green” game against Pittsburgh at 6:30 p.m.
