SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-16, 5-14) closed out the home portion of the 2024 schedule with a 3-1 (25-11, 19-25, 25-11, 25-18) victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies (7-22, 1-18) in Purcell Pavilion on Wednesday afternoon.
The Irish attack was firing on all cylinders in the penultimate contest during the regular season, posting a hitting percentage of .365 which marks the second best percentage on the year for the Irish and the best in ACC play.
Four Notre Dame players finished with double-digit kills, paced by Sydney Palazollo’s 18. Anna Bjork (12), Grace Langer (11) and Phyona Schrader (10) each also reached double figures on the afternoon.
The Irish put together one of the best sets of their season in the opener, winning the opening frame by a score of 25-11. Notre Dame had 14 kills on 24 attempts without a single error for an astounding hitting percentage of .583 in the set.
After the visitors started the match with an early 2-1 advantage, the Irish reeled off nine of the next 10 points to take a commanding lead at 10-3. The Irish lead never fell below six the rest of the set as Notre Dame cruised to the 14-point first set victory to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Virginia Tech bounced back and won the next set 25-19 to even the match at 1-1. The visitors claimed a 10-5 lead to start the second stanza but the Irish battled back by winning the next five points to level the set at 10-10. After the score was 12-12 the Hokies won five of the next six points to go on top 17-13. The Irish managed to trim the lead to two at 18-16 but that was as close as they would get before dropping the frame 25-19.
Notre Dame rebounded nicely and took the third in emphatic fashion, winning the set by a score of 25-11. The Irish totaled 16 kills on 30 swings, making just two errors for an attacking percentage of .467.
The Hokies held a slight advantage early at 6-5 before Notre Dame posted five unanswered points to go up 10-6. After the score moved to 12-9, Lucy Trump and the Irish put together a 9-0 run, eight coming with Trump on the service line to blow the frame open at 21-9. Notre Dame went on to win the set 25-11 to go on top 2-1 in the match.
The opening stages of the fourth frame were a see-saw battle, as the teams traded points to the tune of an 11-11 score. The Irish then took control of the set, winning the next five points to take a 16-11 lead. With the score 22-18, Notre Dame closed out the match in fine fashion,…