Notre Dame is coming off an aggressive tough loss to No. 4 Stanford, followed up by a win against California on the road. Against Cal, sophomore outside hitter Morgan Gaerte led the Irish offense with 11 kills as junior outside hitter Sydney Helmers totaled nine. The Irish recorded a total of 37 assists and 40 digs in the contest, plus 10 team blocks. Their California trip pushed the team to 5-7 on the year and 2-2 in the conference while pushing Gaerte to 199 kills, making her 14th in all of NCAA D1 women’s volleyball in kills per set with 4.63.
Notre Dame has a weekend full of volleyball, beginning on Friday Oct. 10, with their game against University of Virginia. For the Irish, the trio of Gaerte, Helmers and sophomore middle hitter Grace Langer are a force on offense with 199, 86 and 54 kills respectively. The three main hitters for the Irish rely on their setters for success in running the offense, leaning on freshman Maya Baker, who leads with 216 assists and senior setter Harmony Sample, who has 173.
Defensively, Notre Dame has improved since the beginning of ACC conference play. Freshman libero Maya Evens has controlled the back row with 148 digs, while Langer leads with five solo blocks and sophomore middle Anna Bjork with 41 block assists to Langer's 47.
Virginia is currently 8-6 on the season and 1-3 in conference play. Their losses 6 losses came against Auburn, Appalachian State, Michigan (who they also beat in five sets), Stanford, California and Boston College. However, they have a leg up on the Irish as they beat Syracuse in five sets who the Irish lost to 3-1. The Cavaliers are led by freshman outside hitter Reagan Ennist with 110 kills for the season, followed by junior outside hitter Lauryn Bowie with 106. Behind these strong hitters, Virginia boasts even stronger setters including, sophomore Zoey Dood and junior Hannah Scott who have 231 and 217 assists respectively. In the back row, junior libero Katie Barrier is letting virtually nothing hit the ground with 143 digs, and in the front row Jasmine Robinson leads the team with seven solo blocks and 49 block assists. This will be the 15th meeting between Virginia and Notre Dame, with the series currently tied at 7-7, despite the Cavaliers with the two most recent victories.
On Sunday, Oct. 12, Notre Dame will face Virginia Tech, who currently has a 9-6 record as of Oct. 9. The Hokies have suffered losses to Lindenwood, East Tennessee State, California, Radford, Stanford and Syracuse. They are led offensively by junior outside hitter Payton Woods, who has totaled 165 kills so far this season. Close behind her is sophomore outside hitter Reese Hazelton with 108 kills, followed by freshman middle hitter Brianna Holladay with 96. Running the offense are junior setter Camilla Brandalise and sophomore setter Erica Dellesky, who have recorded 307 and 220 assists. On defense, graduate student libero Erica Fava controls the back row with 155 digs, while sophomore middle hitter Isabella Mishler leads the team with nine solo blocks. Holladay also makes a name for herself at the net with a team-high 56 block assists. This will be the 18th meeting between Virginia Tech and Notre Dame, with the Irish holding the advantage in the series 13-4.
Join the Irish on Friday, Oct. 10 at 6:30 p.m. in your best pink-out gear to celebrate their annual breast cancer awareness game. Then come back to Purcell Pavilion on Sunday Oct. 12 at 1 p.m. for the team’s first poster giveaway and autograph day.
