Sept. 25, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame volleyball team couldn’t maintain a 22-18 lead in set one and struggled from there in a 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-16) loss to Louisville in Atlantic Coast Conference action Friday night at Purcell Pavilion.
The Irish came out on fire in their first ACC match of the season, jumping out to a 14-10 lead and maintaining a four-point lead for much of the opening frame. Up four at 22-18 after a Katie Higgins ace, the Irish couldn’t finish off the Cardinals, as Louisville came out of a timeout ready to play. The Cards scored seven of the final eight points to steal set one from the home team. Notre Dame hit over .700 for much of the set, ultimately finishing at .429. Louisville attacked at a .444 clip.
Louisville had complete control of the final two sets, hitting .306 and .455, respectively, in sets two and three. Notre Dame, meanwhile, hit just .133 and .094, respectively.
After set one featured eight ties and four lead changes, the last two sets had only two ties and one lead change.
Erin Fairs (17 K, .500 A%, 5 D) and Aniah Philo (10 K, .350 A%, 7 D) led the Cardinals on offense. Setter Katie George continued her steady work with 40 assists, four digs, two blocks and two kills. Tess Clark had six kills on just 10 swings (.600 A%).
Irish sophomore Sam Fry continued her outstanding season with 10 kills (.421 A%) and two blocks.
Notre Dame finished the match with just 31 kills (.211 A%), 28 assists, 25 digs and four blocks.
Louisville totaled 45 kills (.388 A%), 42 assists, 41 digs and 5.5 blocks.
Notre Dame (5-8, 0-1 ACC) welcomes in No. 17 Florida State at 1 p.m. ET Sunday. Fans can follow the match through ESPN3 and live stats. Links for both are on UND.com.
–Russell Dorn, Athletics Communications Assistant Director
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