SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame volleyball team battled to the very end Sunday afternoon inside Purcell Pavilion, but fell to Florida State in five sets, 19-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-18, 12-15.
After having her streak of 22-straight games with double-digit kills snapped Friday against 14th-ranked Miami, Gaerte came out on fire, going for 23 kills on .259 hitting. The 23 kills are the third-most the sophomore has ever had in her career. It was the seventh game of 20 or more kills for Gaerte this season, which is the third-most in Irish single-season history.
The Angola, Indiana native also tied her career-high with 10 digs. It was the second career double-double for Gaerte and the first of the season. She also added five blocks (four assists, one solo) and two aces to her statsheet. She totaled 28.0 points on the day.
Sydney Helmers also recorded a double-double, the fourth of the season for the junior. She had 14 kills, 11 digs and a pair of aces. Helmers had 16.5 points, the second-most on the team behind Gaerte.
Anna Bjork played strong up the middle, notching five kills, seven blocks, five digs three assists and an ace. Lucy Trump had her second game of the season with double-digit kills, recording 11 off the bench for Notre Dame.
Lily Fenton (27 assists) and Maya Baker (24 assists) both registered 20+ assist games for the third time in the last four games for the Irish offense.
The Irish hit the road this upcoming weekend, facing Clemson Friday night at 6:00 p.m. ET. before heading to Atlanta on Sunday to square off against Georgia Tech at 1:00 p.m. ET.
How it happened
Set 1
- Florida State started off the game with a quick lead, jumping out to a 12-6 advantage to force an Irish timeout
- Notre Dame got a 4-0 run to cut into the deficit to three, highlighted by a pair of blocks from Anna Bjork
- The Seminoles wouldn’t surrender the lead however, taking the first set 25-19
- Lucy Trump, Sydney Helmers and Morgan Gaerte all had three kills in the first set
Set 2
- An early 3-0 run for Notre Dame gave it an early 4-2 lead
- The Irish extended their lead 13-7 after an ace from Helmers forced a Florida State timeout
- Notre Dame continued its momentum. Gaerte’s eighth kill of the game put the Irish up 18-11
- The Seminoles fought back out of their timeout, going on a 8-2 run to cut the Notre Dame lead to just one
- Both teams went back and forth. With the set tied at 23-all, back-to-back kills from Gaerte finished off the set and tied the match at 1-1. Gaerte had seven kills in the set
Set 3
- FSU jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start set number three
- The Seminoles extended their lead to 11-6 that forced a Notre Dame timeout
- Notre Dame made a push, going on a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 15-11
- Similar to the opening set, Florida State didn’t waver at any Irish comeback attempts. The Seminoles took the set 25-19 to go up 2-1 in the match
Set 4
- After falling behind early, a 4-0 Notre Dame run, all fueled by Irish kills, put the Irish on top 4-3
- Another 4-0 Irish run, capped off by consecutive Gaerte aces, made it 12-6 Notre Dame
- It was all Irish after that. Notre Dame took the fourth set 25-17 to tie the match at two
- The Irish totaled 17 kills in the set to take the set victory
Set 5
- Notre Dame jumped out to a 3-1 lead after an ace from Baker
- A kill from Trump tied the set at 6-6, but the next two points went Florida State’s way to make it 8-6 FSU at the media timeout
- The Irish tied it up at nine-all after a block from Bjork and Mae Kordas
- Back-to-back Seminoles’ blocks made it 11-9 FSU to force a Notre Dame timeout
- Florida State would go on to win the set 15-12 and take the match