SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Riding a three-game win streak, the Notre Dame Volleyball team welcomes home a pair of top-10 opponents to Purcell Pavilion this weekend. The Irish host No. 6 Pittsburgh Friday night at 6:30 p.m. before No. 8 SMU comes to town Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra and admission is free. It’s the first time since the 2000 season that the Irish will face back-to-back top-10 teams at home (#4 Nebraska, #3 UCLA).
Notre Dame is coming off back-to-back wins over Virginia and Virginia Tech last weekend. Sydney Helmers led the charge for the Irish, finishing with 36 kills over the two matches, including a career-high 19 in the four-set win over Virginia Tech.
The Irish are 4-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, tied for sixth in the conference. It’s the best start to conference play since the 2021 season for Notre Dame.
Friday’s match against Pittsburgh is the annual ‘Irish Wear Green’ Game. All fans are encouraged to wear green in their support of Notre Dame volleyball. Sunday’s game will be the third edition of this season’s poster series, with postgame autographs available following the match.
HISTORY VS. PITTSBURGH
- This is the 44th all-time meeting between the two programs. Notre Dame leads the series 25-18.
- The last win for the Irish in the series was on October 16, 2020. Notre Dame pulled off a reverse sweep, 22-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-20, 17-15
- From 1992-2002, the Irish won 15-straight against the Panthers.
HISTORY VS. SMU
- This is only the second meeting between Notre Dame and SMU. The Mustangs won the inaugural matchup last season in three sets in Dallas on October 25, 2024.
- In last year’s matchup, Morgan Gaerte tallied eight kills and two blocks.
THE GAERTE PARTY
- The All-ACC Preseason Selection broke the school record for kills in a match against Illinois with 34. Kathy Cunningham’s record of 33 kills had stood for over 37 years. Those 34 kills are 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.
- Gaerte is third in the conference and is 23rd nationally with 4.44 kills per set. In points per set, she is fourth in the ACC and 22nd in the country with 5.05
- The sophomore has had double-digit kills in every single game so far this season (14-consecutive)
FRESH FACES
- The Irish welcome 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 255 assists, is fourth on the team with 71 digs and has 12 aces.
- 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 47 sets as libero and leads the team with 172 digs on this season. She also has 50 assists.
- Kordas had the best game of her early career at California. In her home state, she had a career-high nine kills, five digs and five blocks in the three set sweep over the Golden Bears.
- 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 early impact in a short time. She is fourth on the team with 48 kills and has 28 total blocks for 62.5 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 122 kills, 78 digs and is tied for second on the team with 12 service aces this season.
- Over the weekend against Virginia and Virginia Tech, Helmers had 36 kills, 17 against Virginia and a career-high 19 versus Virginia Tech.