Lubbock, TX – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish opened up the 2023 season taking on the Wichita State Shockers for the first time in program history. While the Irish would take set one, a tough set two and three against the Shockers would take the Irish into a competitive fourth and fifth. Notre Dame battled back to take home the final two sets and start the 2023 season 1-0.
Junior Sydney Palazzolo, the 2022 Big South Player of the Year, made her debut in an Irish uniform on Friday, August 25. The outside hitter tallied a team-high 24 kills, a .254 hitting percentage, 12 digs, and three blocks. Freshman Ava Lange made her freshman debut and first start at Notre Dame, recording 13 kills and five digs. Graduate transfer Nicole Drewnick also dished out 54 assists and tallied 12 digs in her first Irish game day.
Senior middle blockers Lauren Tarnoff and Charity McDowell finished with eight kills and seven kills, respectively, while Tarnoff also defended the net with a team-high four blocks. Sophomore Lucy Trump chipped in five kills and tallied a team-best four service aces.
The Irish came out strong posting their first set win of the 2023 season as they took home set one 25-18. After trailing at 6-5, the Irish strung together a run of five points sparked from a Palazollo kill to take the lead 10-6. Notre Dame would lead the rest of the set and would outscore the shockers 7-2 to close and take home set one 25-18.
It was back and forth between the Irish and the Shockers to start the second, as neither team was able to grab more than a two-point advantage until the 11-11 mark. Wichita would pull away to take the lead 20-14 and while the Irish closed the gap to four with three kills from Lange, the Shockers took home set two 25-20.
Set three would start in a similar fashion as set two – the Irish led early at 7-5, but a 10-2 run by the Shockers quickly gave Wichita State the edge in the third. Trailing 24-16, three straight kills from Palazollo brought Irish within three, but the Shockers took the 2-1 advantage heading into the fourth.
Notre Dame posted a 9-3 lead over the Shockers to start set four, which included three kills and an ace from Trump and kills from Palazzolo and Drewnick. Wichita State rallied to tie it up at 13-13, but a Tarnoff kill and back-to-back aces from Trump gave the Irish the 16-13 advantage. The Shockers responded with a three-point run of their own to make it an even game at 16-16, but a McDowell kill would…