SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame volleyball team came up short Friday night, dropping the Atlantic Coast Conference opener to Syracuse in four sets. The Irish are now 3-6 on the season and 0-1 in conference play.
Morgan Gaerte tallied 19 kills on the evening, continuing her streak of having double digit kills in every game so far in 2025. It’s the most kills she has had against a conference opponent in her career.
Sydney Helmers chipped in 12 kills and 10 digs for her first double-double of her career, while Maya Baker and Harmony Sample combined for 43 assists.
Notre Dame returns to action Sunday against Boston College at 1 p.m. inside Purcell Pavilion. The game marks the first of four posters in the season’s team poster series giveaway. Posters can be found near the main entrance, and post game autographs will be available after the game.
How it happened
The Irish started off hot, going on a 5-0 run to open up the game, but the Orange countered with a 7-1 run and led 12-9 at the first timeout. Anna Bjork and Morgan Gaerte tallied three kills apiece early.
Syracuse continued to play well, including three consecutive kills, to take a 19-16 lead that forced the second Notre Dame timeout of the opening set. But the Irish responded with a 6-3 run out of the timeout to knot the game up at 22. After a Grace Langer kill made it 23-22 Irish, the Orange ripped off three-straight points to take the opening set.
After falling behind initially in the second set, the Irish regained steam, getting kills from Sydney Helmers and Chichi Nnaji paired with a pair of Syracuse attack errors to regain the lead at 7-6. After both teams exchanged blows, the Orange went on a 4-0 run that forced an Irish timeout with the score 13-11 Syracuse.
After Notre Dame crawled back to make it a one-deficit, Syracuse held its ground, notching two blocks on Irish attacks to take a 20-16 lead, forcing the second Notre Dame timeout of the set.
Out of the timeout, the Irish won a challenge that prompted a 4-0 run, highlighted by Lucy Trump’s team-leading 13th ace of the season, to tie the set at 20.
Notre Dame continued its momentum, as Gaerte’s consecutive kills gave the Irish a 25-23 win in the second set to knot the match at one.
Following the intermission, it was Syracuse who came out to a fast start. The Orange ripped off six of the first seven points of the third set. Syracuse continued to play at its own pace and led 17-11. The Orange didn’t look back and took a pivotal 2-1 lead with a 25-18 third set victory.
Both teams exchanged blows to begin set four. The Irish got an ace from Harmony Sample before the media timeout but Syracuse had a 15-13 lead at the first break in action.
The Orange came out firing on all cylinders, using a 6-1 run to go up 23-17. Notre Dame put together a 4-0 run facing match point thanks to kills from Grace Langer and Gaerte, but Syracuse prevailed at the end, winning the set 25-22 and the match.