VILLANOVA, Penn. – The Notre Dame volleyball team fell in a tough five set battle to Santa Clara on Saturday, September 2 in day two of the Catholic Challenge (25-23, 21-25, 25-18, 23-25, 9-15). The Irish were led by Sydney Palazzolo with 23 kills and five service aces. Ava Lange finished with seven kills, followed by Lauren Tarnoff and Phyona Schrader who each recorded six kills a piece. Charity McDowell tallied a team-best five blocks, while Tarnoff and Nicole Drewnick chipped in four blocks each.
Set one was back and forth, with neither team able to pull away by more than three points. Leading 7-4 after a block from Drewnick and McDowell, the Broncos would come back to tie it up at 9-9. It wasn’t long before a Cailey Dockery ace gave the Irish the three point advantage yet again at 13-10. The Broncos made it an even set at 14-14 and while an Ava Lange kill broke up the Santa Clara run, the Broncos took their first lead of the set at 16-15.
A 3-0 run put the Irish back on top at 18-16, but the Broncos responded with a 4-0 run of their own. Trailing 22-19, Notre Dame outscored Santa Clara 6-1 to close the set, with the final three points consisting of back-to-back kills from Palazzolo and a solo block from Lauren Tarnoff to clinch the set one win.
Santa Clara claimed an early lead to start the second as the Irish trailed 7-3 off the bat. A pair of kills from Paris Thompson and a block from McDowell and Drewnick brought Notre Dame within one, but it didn’t take long for the Broncos to pull away. Santa Clara went on a 6-0 run to extend their lead at 12-6.
Trailing 24-17, the Irish continued to battle as they scored four straight points to bring it within three and force a Bronco timeout. The Broncos were able to put it away out of the timeout to take home set two 25-21.
The Irish had their best offensive production in set three as Notre Dame terminated 15 times and hit at a clip of .448. Tarnoff recorded four kills in the third, hitting an impressive .600 in set three. The Irish started strong as they posted an early 12-4 lead over the Broncos, which included back-to-back-to-back aces from Palazzolo. While Santa Clara was able to bring it within four at 15-11 and 20-16, Notre Dame would maintain the advantage and win set three 25-18.
Set four was no different than the others as it was a competitive back and forth set between the two squads – it was tied 10 times with three lead changes. Trailing 16-15, the Irish would go on a 3-0 run to claim the 18-16 advantage and force a Santa Clara timeout. Out of the timeout the Broncos were able to outscore the Irish 5-1 to make it a 21-19 ballgame. From there on the Irish and Broncos would go point for point until Santa Clara claimed the set with one last kill to win 25-23.
Notre Dame trailed early in set five as the Broncos were off to an 8-3 start in the final set. A pair of kills from Lange closed the gap to four at 9-5, but Santa Clara was able to terminate and extend their lead to 13-8. Palazzolo would tally one more kill for the Irish before the Broncos responded with two kills of their own to take the fifth set 15-9.
The Irish are back in action on Thursday for their home opener against Illinois at 7 p.m. as the Irish host the Irish Invitational September 7-9.