CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-5, 2-3) fell to Miami (11-5, 2-3) in five sets (22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 13-25, 12-15) on Friday night on the road.
Freshman Morgan Gaerte led the way with 16 kills, 10 digs, 3 service aces, and 2 blocks. Sydney Palazzolo finished with 15 kills and 10 digs.
Phyona Schrader recorded her seventh triple-double of the year with 13 kills, 15 digs, 35 assists, and a team-best 4 blocks.
The Hurricanes were able to take an early 9-5 lead in set one and while the Irish closed the gap to two at 9-7, Miami extended their lead to 13-8 to force the Notre Dame timeout. Trailing 15-8, a Trump ace would cap off a 4-0 run to bring Notre Dame within three. A Bjork kill closed the gap to two at 22-20, which was followed by kills from Palazzolo and Schrader to bring the Irish within one and force the Miami timeout. The Canes would score the final two points as set one went to Miami 25-22.
Notre Dame led 7-4 to start set two, but a small run from the Canes would tie it up at 8-all. A 3-0 run put the Irish in front 15-14 heading into the media timeout. Tied at 17-all, a 5-0 run gave Notre Dame the 22-17 advantage. Kills from Schrader and Palazzolo made it 24-19 as the Irish capped off the set with a block from Bjork and Schrader to win 25-19.
It was a close set in the start of third, but as the Canes started to pull away the Irish called a timeout as they trailed 13-9. The Irish would come out of the timeout strong, tying it up 15-all before taking the lead 19-16 to force a Miami timeout. Still a three-point set at 22-19, the Irish would close it out on a 3-0 run to win the third 25-19 and take a 2-1 advantage going into set four.
The Canes came out strong in the fourth capturing an early lead at 12-3. The Irish closed the gap to five at 14-9, but Miami would go on to take set four 25-13.
A kill from Gaerte made it an even 5-5 in the final set. Miami would take the lead 10-7, forcing an Irish timeout. A 3-0 Irish run, which included two more Gaerte kills, would tie it up again at 12-all. Miami would respond with a 3-0 run of their own to win it 15-12.
The Irish are back in action on Sunday, Oct. 13 as they face the Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee at 1:00 pm.