SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish fell in a tough five-set battle to the No. 19 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at home on Friday night (25-22, 21-25, 25-20, 17-25, 13-15).
Morgan Gaerte finished with a career-high 18 kills, followed by Sydney Palazzolo with 15 kills and 14 digs. Lucy Trump, Anna Bjork, and Phyona Schrader each tallied eight kills a piece and Grace Langer finished with a team-best five blocks.
The Irish had their strongest offensive production in set one to start things off, hitting .333 and recording 17 kills as a team led Notre Dame to a 25-22 win in the first set. Tied at 18-all, the Irish would take a 22-18 advantage to force a Yellow Jacket timeout. Georgia Tech responded with a 3-0 run to force a Notre Dame timeout in return, but kills from Schrader and Trump coupled with a block from the freshman duo of Gaerte and Bjork secured the win.
It was back and forth between the Irish and Yellow Jackets in set two as there were nine ties and three lead changes. With Georgia Tech in front 18-17, the Irish were working to close the gap, but the Yellow Jackets would even the playing field at 1-1 as they took the second set 25-21.
Notre Dame recorded another strong offensive set in the third, tallying another 16 kills as a team and hitting at a clip of .325. Posting a lead of 17-10, the Irish forced a Georgia Tech timeout, but the Yellow Jackets responded as they closed the gap to three at 20-17 and forced an Irish timeout in return. Gaetre sent home another kill to seal the deal on set three as Notre Dame took a 2-1 advantage by winning the third 25-20.
It was another close start in the fourth as the Yellow Jackets led by just one at 10-9 before going on a 6-0 run to extend their lead 16-9. The Irish closed the gap to three at 17-14, but Georgia Tech would close it out with an 8-3 run to take it to a fifth set.
With Georgia Tech up 7-5 in the final set, the Irish called a timeout and responded with a 5-1 run to take the lead 10-8 and force the Yellow Jacket timeout. With Notre Dame leading 12-9, the Yellow Jackets strung together four straight points to make it 13-12 as the Irish called their second timeout. A kill from Trump tied it up at 13-all, but the ranked Georgia Tech squad would score the final two points to take the last set 15-13.
The Irish are back in action on Sunday as they host the Clemson Tigers at 1:00 pm at Purcell Pavilion.