SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Notre Dame volleyball team dropped Sunday afternoon’s matchup to Xavier in four sets, 27-29, 15-25, 25-18, 15-25. The Irish are 0-2 on the young season.
A pair of Irish were in double digit in the kills category. Sydney Helmers registered 11 kills, her second-straight game with double figures, as well as a pair of service aces. Isabella Sangha logged her first career game in double figure kills with 10.
Angie Desamours gave Notre Dame a lift off the bench, making her collegiate debut in the third set. The Chantilly, Virginia native logged four kills on just eight swings to go along with a solo block in limited action.
Notre Dame achieved 12 total team blocks in the game, its second straight game in double figures for team blocks.
The Irish are back in action Saturday at 4:00 p.m. for their road opener at Toledo.
How it happened
Set 1:
- The Irish started two freshmen - Isabella Sangha and Portia Zeidler. It was Zeidler’s collegiate debut and the second-straight start for Sangha
- Xavier started off the match on a 7-2 run, taking advantage of three Irish attack errors early
- Notre Dame tied the set at 10 off a kill by Anna Bjork
- The Irish won five of the next seven points, highlighted by a Lily Fenton ace, to take a 15-12 lead at the technical timeout
- Sydney Helmers flushed her second ace of the set as Notre Dame was the first to 20, leading 20-17
- Shortly after, a 3-0 Irish run put Notre Dame up 23-18
- Facing set point, Xavier ripped off three-straight points to force an Irish timeout with Notre Dame up 24-22
- The Musketeers extended their run to five to tie the set at 24-all
- After back and forth action, Xavier broke through and took the opening set 29-27
Set 2:
- Xavier scored five of the first six points to open the second set, forcing a Notre Dame timeout
- Down six early, the Irish won five of the next seven points to cut the Musketeers lead to three, 8-11
- Xavier led 15-9 at the technical timeout
- The Musketeers kept pushing, forcing an Irish timeout up 18-10
- Xavier went on to win the set 25-15
Set 3:
- For the second-straight set, the Musketeers won five of the first six points
- Angie Desamours checked into the game early in the set, making her collegiate debut, and immediately logged her first career kill
- A 4-0 Notre Dame run tied the set at six apiece
- Three consecutive Irish blocks forced a Xavier timeout with Notre Dame up 9-7
- Xavier regained the lead at 11-10 thanks to a 3-0 run
- Notre Dame went on a 5-0 run, taking advantage of Musketeers attack errors, to take a 15-12 lead at the technical timeout
- The Irish extended its run to eight, using a mix of kills and blocks, to take an 18-12 lead
- After a kill from Sangha and a Musketeer attack error later, Xavier called its final timeout with Notre Dame up 21-14
- Momentum fueled the Irish as Notre Dame took the third set 25-18 to extend the match
- The Irish logged five blocks and took advantage of 11 attack errors and four service errors from Xavier in the set
Set 4:
- With the score tied up at seven, the Musketeers jolted to 4-0 run to force an Irish timeout
- Xavier extended the run to eight to lead 15-7 at the technical timeout
- Kills from Sangha and Helmers assisted a 3-0 Irish run to force a Xavier timeout at 17-11 Musketeers
- A 5-0 Xavier run made it 22-11 Musketeers
- Sangha notched her 10th kill to break the Xavier run, her first double-digit kill game
- The Musketeers closed out the set 25-15 to win the match