CHARLOTTE, N.C. – After an historic sophomore campaign, sophomore outside hitter Morgan Gaerte was named to the All-ACC First Team, the conference announced Monday evening. Gaerte is the first Notre Dame volleyball player to be named to the All-ACC First Team since 2020. The Angola, Indiana native also served as a captain for the 2025 squad.
Gaerte, who started in all 28 matches this season, tallied 497 kills this fall, the third-most ever in a season in Notre Dame history and the most since Christy Peters in 1997. Those 497 kills are the most by an Irish in the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-present) and 44 more kills than any Notre Dame player in that era.
Those 497 kills were also the third-most in the conference this season, as were her 4.64 kills per set. Gaerte’s 4.64 kills per set are a Notre Dame program record, regardless of scoring era, setting a new standard in Irish volleyball.
Gaerte started her sophomore campaign with three straight matches of 20 or more kills, including her program-record 34 against Illinois, and ended the campaign with five-straight matches with 20 or more kills, two of them going for 30+. The five-straight matches with 20 or more kills are a school record for most consecutive matches with 20 or more kills. She also had double-digit kills in 27 of 28 matches, including 22-straight to begin the season, which is the second-longest streak in program history.
11 of Gaerte’s matches consisted of her reaching 20 or more kills, which shattered the single-season school record by two matches. She led Notre Dame in kills in 24 matches this year, breaking Christy Peters’ 1993 record of 23 in a single season.
On the season, Notre Dame nearly doubled their conference win totals from the past three years (5), recording nine wins in the ACC this year, arguably the top volleyball conference in the country. Those nine wins slotted the Irish in a tie for ninth in the ACC at the end of the season, which were the most wins and the highest conference finish under head coach Salima Rockwell.