SOUTH BEND, Ind. – After playing four of its past five games on the road, the Notre Dame Volleyball team returns to Purcell Pavilion this weekend for a clash against 14th-ranked Miami on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. before hosting Florida State at noon on Sunday. Both games will be broadcast on ACCNX and admission is free.
The Irish are coming off a come from behind win last Sunday at NC State. After dropping the first set, Notre Dame won the second and third set before closing out its 9th win of the season in the fifth set. It was the second five-set win for the Irish this season including the season opening win over Santa Clara on August 29th.
Morgan Gaerte continues to shine in her sophomore campaign. The native of Angola, Indiana has been one of the top attackers in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season. She is fourth in the conference in kills per set (4.36) and points per set (5.07) and is in the top-20 in points per set in the country. Her 353 kills this season are also the fourth-most in the conference.
Gaerte has double-digit kills in 22-straight games to start the season, the second-longest streak in program history. She’s three games away from tying the record and four games away from breaking the program record.
Friday’s game against #14 Miami will be the sixth different ranked opponent Notre Dame has faced this season. The Irish are 5-4 all-time against Miami at home, but haven’t beat the Hurricanes since March 7, 2020.
Notre Dame will look for its first win against Florida State since the 2021 season when the Irish swept the Seminoles in Tallahassee. The last win for Notre Dame against FSU in South Bend was in 2017.
HISTORY VS. MIAMI
- This is the 21st overall meeting between Notre Dame and Miami. The Irish trail the series 9-11 (5-10 ACC)
- Notre Dame’s last win against the Hurricanes was on March 7, 2020, sweeping Miami 25-18, 25-19, 25-15 in Purcell Pavilion
- The Irish are 5-4 all-time against Miami at home
HISTORY VS. FLORIDA STATE
- This is the 22nd overall meeting between Notre Dame and Florida State. The Irish trail the series 5-16 (3-12 ACC)
- Notre Dame last beat the Seminoles on November 21, 2021, sweeping FSU 25-22, 25-22, 25-23, on the road in Tallahassee.
- The last win for Notre Dame over Florida State in South Bend was on October 1, 2017 with a five-set win for the Irish, 25-21, 23-25, 19-25, 25-12, 15-12.
THE GAERTE PARTY
- The All-ACC Preseason Selection broke the school record for kills in a match against Illinois back on september 5th with 34. Kathy Cunningham’s record of 33 kills had stood for over 37 years. Those 34 kills at the time were tied for the most in a single match so far this season in the country with Racquel Frazier of Hampton.
- She is the just the third player in Irish history to have three consecutive games of 20 or more kills and would be the first to do so in seperate occasions with 20 or more kills against Miami. She has six total games of 20 or more kills this season after her 25 kills at Wake Forest and 21 at NC State.
- Gaerte is fourth in the conference and 28th nationally with 4.36 kills per set. In points per set, she is fourth in the ACC and 18th in the country with 5.07
- The sophomore has double-digit kills in every single game so far this season (22-consecutive)
FRESH FACES
- The Irish have five freshmen to the team, bringing the Irish to a roster size of 20.
- The freshman class consists of Maya Baker (S), Maya Evens (DS/L), Mae Kordas (OH/O), Chichi Nnaji (OH), Sophia Thornburg (OH).
- Baker, who was a two-time Max Preps All-American, leads the team with 427 assists, is third on the team with 117 digs and has 16 aces. She had a career-high 31 assists (10.33 assists per set) in the sweep over Duke.
- The Irish pair a duo of former high school teammates in the incoming freshman class. Maya Evens and Mae Kordas both played together at Cathedral Catholic High School in Carlsbad, California. The duo was part of two Open State Championships (2022, 2024).
- Evens has played in 78 sets and leads the team with 258 digs on this season. She also has 69 assists.
- Kordas had the best game of her early career at California. In her home state, she had a nine kills, five digs and five blocks in the three set sweep over the Golden Bears. She also had back-to-back games with 10 kills against Virginia and Virginia Tech.
- Chichi Nnaji and Sophia Thornburg were high school teammates in Dallas, Texas at the Ursuline Academy of Dallas. Thornburg was named to the Prep Volleyball Top 100 National List for the Class of 2025 while both spent time working with the USAV National Team Development Program.
- Nnaji has made an impact from game one. She is third on the team with 96 kills and has 43 total blocks for 118.5 points.
- The Irish added one player from the portal, outside hitter Sydney Helmers from Texas. She was a member of the 2023 National Champion team as a freshman for the Longhorns. The junior has 204 kills, 140 digs and is third on the team with 22 service aces this season.
- In the win over NC State, Helmers had 14 kills, a career-high 19 digs, 3 service aces, 3 blocks and was a perfect 50/50 on receptions
KEY RETURNERS
- The Irish return 14 to the roster; 5 outside hitters, 3 defensive specialist/liberos, 3 middle blockers, 2 setters and 1 opposite.
- Notre Dame returns all three middle blockers; Mallory Bohl, Anna Bjork and Grace Langer for their sophomore seasons.
- Langer and Bjork have been a dominant presence in the middle for Notre Dame. Langer leads the team with 98 blocks with Bjork behind her at 91. Offensively, Langer has 81 kills to Bjork’s 79.
- In a homecoming match at Colorado State, Langer tallied nine kills on a career-best .600 hitting percentage to go along with 4.0 blocks.