NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The Notre Dame volleyball team earned its fourth straight win to open conference play with a four-set victory over Georgia Tech (25-14, 18-25, 25-15, 26-24) on Sunday afternoon inside Purcell Pavilion.
The victory moved the Fighting Irish’s record to 11-3 overall and 4-0 in ACC play.
The Fighting Irish offense was paced by Charley Niego, who finished with 16 kills on the day, and by Sydney Bent, who had 15 kills while hitting .344. Zoe Nunez also posted 39 assists.
The Irish got 17 digs from Madison Cruzado along with six blocks from Kristin Baer. As a team, the Irish out-blocked Georgia Tech, 9-4.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
A 7-1 Irish run, which included two kills by Bent, staked Notre Dame an 11-5 lead to open play. Georgia Tech cut the Irish lead to 11-8 before Notre Dame rattled off four straight points to go up 15-8. The Irish closed the frame on another 7-1 stretch to take the first set, 25-14, and earn a 1-0 lead. The Irish hit .583 in the set, their highest total this season.
Second Set
A 5-1 Irish run evened the second set at 14-14 before the Yellow Jackets earned four consecutive points to go up 18-14. A kill by Bent cut the visitors’ lead to 18-16, but Georgia Tech closed the stanza on a 7-2 streak for the 25-18 win.
Third Set
Four Georgia Tech attack errors and an ace by Caroline Meuth helped the Irish earn a 7-2 lead to open set three. The Yellow Jackets earned the next three points to cut the Irish lead to 7-5 before Notre Dame responded with a 5-2 spurt to go up 12-7. The Irish maintained the advantage from there, and closed the frame with a 7-0 run that featured two kills by Bent and an ace by Lauren Wenzel. Notre Dame hit .320 in the frame while limiting Georgia Tech to .040.
Fourth Set
A back-and-forth fourth frame featured 10 ties in total. Notre Dame jumped out to an 8-4 advantage but Georgia Tech battled back to even the stanza at 14-all. The sides worked to a 21-21 tie before the Irish rattled off three straight points to go up 24-21. The Yellow Jackets rallied with a 3-0 run of their own to even the frame, 24-24. The Irish clinched the four-set victory with a kill by Niego and a Georgia Tech attack error to take set four, 26-24.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame hits the road next weekend for a pair of contests against Wake Forest and Duke. The Irish take on the Demon Deacons on Friday (Oct. 11) at 6 p.m. before meeting Duke on Sunday (Oct. 13) at 3 p.m. Friday’s contest will be streamed on ACC Network Extra while Sunday’s matchup in Durham is set to be televised on the ACC Network.
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—ND—