SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Volleyball team, coming off a dominant sweep over Duke last Sunday, welcomes eighth-ranked Louisville for an unique Wednesday night matchup inside Purcell Pavilion at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on ACC Network.
Tomorrow night’s game will be the first of a home-and-home week for Notre Dame and Louisville. The Irish will trek south on Saturday for a clash with the Cardinals inside the KFC Yum! Center at 3 p.m.
Notre Dame sits at 5-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference play this season, which is tied for seventh in the conference. Four of those five wins have been in straight sets for the Irish.
In Sunday’s win at Duke, Morgan Gaerte had 14 kills while Sydney Helmers tacked on 12 of her own. Notre Dame hit an impressive .317 in the win.
Louisville is the fourth top-10 opponent the Irish have faced this season (#4 Stanford, #6 Pitt, #8 SMU) and the fifth ranked opponent (#21 North Carolina). Notre Dame took both #6 Pitt and #21 North Carolina to five sets, winning the first two sets against both nationally ranked programs.
HISTORY VS. LOUISVILLE
- This is the 50th and 51st meetings all-time between Notre Dame and Louisville. The Irish trail the series 23-26.
- Notre Dame’s last win was on September 25, 2020 when the Irish won in three sets, 27-25, 25-22, 26-24.
- The last win in South Bend against Louisville was on November 16, 2018. The Irish won in five sets, 27-25, 22-25, 19-25, 25-16, 15-11.
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 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. She has four total games of 20 or more kills this season after her 22 kills at #21 North Carolina
- Gaerte is fourth in the conference and 28th nationally with 4.35 kills per set. In points per set, she is fourth in the ACC and 24th in the country with 4.95
- The sophomore has had double-digit kills in every single game so far this season (18-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 339 assists, is fourth on the team with 92 digs and has 13 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 63 sets as libero and leads the team with 226 digs on this season. She also has 62 assists.
- Kordas had the best game of her early career at California. In her home state, she had 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 76 kills and has 34 total blocks for 93.5 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 168 kills, 110 digs and is tied for second on the team with 19 service aces this season.
- Against Virginia and Virginia Tech, Helmers had 36 kills, 17 against Virginia and a career-high 19 versus Virginia Tech.
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 79 blocks with Bjork behind her at 74. Offensively, Langer has 73 kills to Bjork’s 60.
- 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.