SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish got the job done in front of an electric crowd inside of Compton Family Ice Arena as they defeated Colorado State for the first time in program history on Friday, Sept. 13. The Irish won their home opener in four sets (25-23, 16-25, 25-21, 25-15) and advanced to 5-1 on the season.
Phyona Schrader did it again – the senior setter recorded her third triple-double in a row and is now tied for first in the country so far this season. She finished with 11 kills, 28 assists, 14 digs, and four service aces in tonight’s win.
Sydney Palazzolo and Morgan Gaerte led the way with 15 kills a piece, a career high for Gaerte. The freshman trio of Morgan Gaerte, Anna Bjork and Grace Langer all finished with three blocks a piece. Ella Sandt also finished with a double-double tonight with 17 assists and 10 digs.
The Irish were able to get off to a 12-8 start with five kills between the freshman duo of Morgan Gaerte and Anna Bjork. With Notre Dame in front 16-13, the squads would swap points up to the 21-18 mark before the Rams tied it up at 21-21 and forced the Notre Dame timeout. While the Irish regained the lead at 23-21, Colorado State scored four straight to end the set 25-23.
It was similar back and forth action in the second set and while it was tied twice, the Irish never trailed in the set. Tied at 14-all, the Irish dominated, going on a 11-2 run to win set two and tie it up at 1-1 heading into the third. Notre Dame recorded 20 kills and hit an impressive clip of .447 in the set to secure the set two win.
Tied at 8-8 in the third set, the Irish took seven of the next nine points to give them a 15-10 edge going into the media timeout. While the Rams closed the gap to two at 23-21, kills from Gaerte and Palazzolo closed out the set.
With the Irish offense hitting .400 in the final set, the defense stepped up and held the Rams to a -.152 hitting effort in set four. While the Irish had the lead at 9-6, Notre Dame extended the advantage to 14-6 with a 5-0 run. The Rams responded with a 5-0 of their own to bring it back within three at 14-11, but the Irish took back the momentum to win it 25-15.
The Irish are back in action tomorrow to take on Northwestern for the second time this week. The match will take place in Compton Family Ice Arena at 6:30 PM.