SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish advance to 7-1 on the season after a big sweep (25-15, 25-20, 30-28) over the Indiana Hoosiers on Friday, Sept. 20 in Purcell Pavilion. The win over the local B1G opponent puts the Irish at a perfect 3-0 at home to start the year.
Senior Phyona Schrader is on a roll as she recorded her fourth triple-double of the season with 11 kills, 19 assists, and 15 digs.
The freshman outside hitter, Morgan Gaerte, led the Irish with a team-best 12 kills, with senior Sydney Palazzolo and Lucy Trump adding nine kills a piece. Trump also recorded a team-high five kills in the three-set win.
The Irish were off to a hot start in the match, hitting an impressive .565 in set one. Trump tallied four kills in the first set, hitting .667. Despite the Hoosiers leading 6-5 to start the set, it didn’t take long for the Irish to take control. A 10-2 run put Notre Dame in front 15-8 at the media timeout. The Hoosiers worked to close the gap, but an Anna Bjork service ace secured the set one win 25-15.
It was a back-and-forth start in the second set. While the Irish lead 11-7, a 5-0 Hoosier run put them in front 12-11 and forced the Notre Dame timeout. Responding with a 5-1 run in return, the Irish forced the Indiana timeout as they led 16-13. With Notre Dame up 23-16, the Hoosiers closed the gap to four at 23-19. Kills from Palazzolo and Gaerte gave the Irish their final two points of the match to take the 2-0 advantage heading into the third.
The Irish recorded a match-high 19 kills in the set as the battle for the set three win was on in Purcell Pavilion. While Notre Dame had the 22-15 advantage, the Hoosiers continued to rally as they closed the gap to 23-19 and forced the Irish timeout. While a Gaerte kill broke up the Hoosier scoring, Indiana brought it within one at 24-23 to force Notre Dame’s final timeout of the set. Tied at 24-all, 25-all, 26-all, 27-all, and 28-all, both teams were relentless in their efforts to take set three. A kill from Schrader gave the Irish a 29-28 edge and a block from Trump, Bjork, and Gaerte sealed the deal to take set three and complete the sweep.
The Irish are back in action on Sunday, Sept. 22 as they head to Bloomington to face the Hoosiers yet again.