SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame volleyball opened up ACC play on Friday night with a five-set thriller, taking down Boston College, 25-21, 16-25, 24-26, 25-15, 15-6. Furthermore, Purcell Pavilion remained protected as the Fighting Irish (7-2, 1-0) improved to 4-0 at home. The Irish have now won 10 straight against the Eagles (11-4, 0-1), matching a program all-time best, when they previously won 10 in a row against BC from 1991-2003.
Ava Lange led the team with 17 kills tonight. Sydney Palazzolo recorded a double-double with 15 kills and 18 digs. Phyona Schrader also notched double-digit kills with 11. Nicole Drewnick tallied 46 assists to go with her seven kills. Hattie Monson also came up big with 26 digs.
SET ONE
Notre Dame found itself down 7-3 early but battled back to tie it at 9-all. From there, the Irish went on a 12-5 scoring run, forcing a Boston College timeout, now up 21-14. Palazzolo, Schrader, Lange and Drewnick all recorded kills during this stretch. Out of the timeout the Eagles rallied and cut their deficit to one point at 22-21. The Irish then completely stomped out their momentum and won four straight to take the set 25-21. Lange added the exclamation point on the set with back-to-back kills to end it, totaling six kills in the set – a team best.
SET TWO
Set two took a swift turn against the Irish. It was close early with Notre Dame down just 9-7, but that’s when BC fired off four straight points to go up 13-7. From there, the Eagles rode that momentum to a 25-16 set win. Palazzolo led with four kills in the set.
SET THREE
The third set was an absolute back-and-forth battle that featured seven ties and three lead changes. Facing a late 23-19 deficit, the Irish showed some fight. Kills from Palazzolo, Drewnick and Lange cut it to 24-22. Two plays later, a huge dig from Monson set up another kill from Lange to tie it at 24-all. Yet, Boston College registered the next two points to take the set 26-24.
SET FOUR
The late set three tiebreaker didn’t weigh on the Irish, for they jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the fourth set, prompting a BC timeout. Shortly after, a 12-2 Notre Dame run to go up 17-6, gave the home team all the cushion they would need to see out the set. The Irish ultimately won the fourth set 25-15.
SET FIVE
Notre Dame and Boston College traded points early – tied at one, two, three and four. Then kills from the trio of Drewnick, Schrader and Palazzolo earned some separation, up 12-5. A kill from Lange and two BC attack errors later, the Irish celebrated the five-set win, taking the final set 15-6.
UP NEXT
The Irish look to improve to 2-0 in ACC play when they host Syracuse on Sunday, Sept. 24 at Noon ET inside Purcell Pavilion.