SOUTH BEND, Ind. – With just four games remaining in the regular season, the Notre Dame volleyball team hits the road for its next three games, including this weekend when the Irish play at Clemson Friday night at 6:00 p.m. ET and at Georgia Tech 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Both games will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
Notre Dame won its last road contest, taking a competitive match in five sets over NC State in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Irish have four wins on the road, three of them against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents, this season as well as a neutral win.
As the season starts to wind down, Morgan Gaerte has cemented herself as one of the best in the conference. Gaerte is fourth in the conference with 385 kills and 4.28 kills per set. She has seven games with 20 or more kills this season, which is the third-most in program history in a single-season. She’s coming off a 23 kill game against Florida State, the third-most output in her career.
Lucy Trump has played a crucial role for the Irish lately, playing an all-around role for Notre Dame. Trump leads the team with 31 service aces on the season and has 110 for her career, which is just two away from being in the top-10 in program history. Last time out against Florida State, Trump had 11 kills, her second game of the season with double-digit kills.
Lily Fenton has grabbed a bigger role in the setter rotation as of late, starting the last four games for the Irish. Against Florida State, Fenton notched a career-best 27 assists to go along with five digs. Fenton has 23 or more assists in three of her last four matches.
Blocking has been a strength for the Irish all season. The Irish’s 2.58 blocks per set are the fifth-most in the ACC and are led by Grace Langer. Langer has a career-best 102 blocks this season, 10 of them solo. Anna Bjork is close behind her with 98 blocks this season. Gaerte has 59 total blocks this year and leads the team with 14 solo blocks.
HISTORY VS. CLEMSON
- This is the 18th overall meeting between Notre Dame and Clemson. The Irish lead the series 11-6 overall (9-5 ACC)
- Notre Dame swept Clemson last season on October 6, 2024 in South Bend, 25-17, 25-17, 25-23. It snapped a three game losing streak to the Tigers
- The Irish haven’t won in Clemson since October 3, 2021. Notre Dame swept Clemson on the road 25-20, 25-23, 26-24
HISTORY VS. GEORGIA TECH
- This is the 16th overall meeting between Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. The Irish trail in the series 6-9 overall (5-8 ACC)
- Notre Dame is looking for its first win against the Yellow Jackets since October 1, 2021 in five sets, 17-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-23, 9-15 in Atlanta
- The Irish are 4-5 all-time on the road at Georgia Tech, but winners of two of their past three matchups in Atlanta
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 was named ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week for her performance on September 8th
- 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 separate occasions with 20 or more kills against Miami. She has seven total games of 20 or more kills this season after her 23 kills vs. Florida State, which is the second-most in single-season in program history
- Gaerte is fourth in the conference and 37th nationally with 4.28 kills per set. In points per set, she is fourth in the ACC and 19th in the country with 4.99
- The sophomore had double-digit kills in 22-straight games to begin the season, the second-longest streak in program history
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 470 assists, is third on the team with 132 digs and has 18 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 84 sets and leads the team with 265 digs on this season. She also has 71 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 103 kills and has 48 total blocks for 128.0 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 229 kills, 157 digs and is third on the team with 25 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
- Senior Lucy Trump has played a crucial all-around role off the bench, giving a spark to the rotation. Trump had 11 kills against Florida State, her second double-digit kill game of the season
- Trump leads the team with 31 aces on the season and has 110 in total for her career, just outside of the top-10 in program history
- Against Syracuse, Trump recorded a career-high 18 digs
- 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 101 blocks with Bjork behind her at 98. Offensively, Langer has 89 kills to Bjork’s 81.
- 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
- Junior Lily Fenton has jumped onto the scene for Notre Dame, starting the last four matches. Most recently, she tallied a career-best 27 assists against Florida State and has 23 or more assists in three of her last four games