NOTRE DAME, Ind. — No. 5 Notre Dame continues its 2020 fall schedule with a pair of top-10 matchups against No. 10 Pittsburgh on Friday, October 16 and Sunday, October 18. First serve for Friday’s match is set for 7 p.m. ET inside Purcell Pavilion while Sunday’s match is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET. Both contests are set to be televised to a national audience with Friday’s tilt on ESPN2 and Sunday’s matchup on ACC Network.
NOTRE DAME vs. PITTSBURGH
Location: Notre Dame, Ind.
TV: Friday – ESPN2 // Sunday – ACC Network
Live Stream: Friday // Sunday
Live Stats: Friday // Sunday
Twitter Updates: @NDVolleyball
Game Notes: Pittsburgh
FAST START
• The Irish enter the weekend with a perfect 3-0 mark after a pair of victories over No. 5 Syracuse on Oct. 2-3.
• Charley Niego led the Irish with 19 kills and 18 digs in last Friday’s four-set victory over the Orange before adding 15 kills with a .467 hitting percentage in last Saturday’s sweep.
• Last Friday marked the first top-five victory for the Irish since they took down #5 Stanford in straight sets on August 29, 2009.
• Notre Dame also earned back-to-bank ranked victories for the first time since knocking off No. 24 Ohio State and No. 23 Michigan State on September 10 & 15, 2017.
• The Irish have dropped just one set over their first three matches and have earned straight-set victories over Louisville and Syracuse.
HISTORY VS. PITTSBURGH
• The Irish and Panthers will be meeting for the 38th and 39th times this weekend.
• Notre Dame holds a 24-13 advantage in the all-time series.
• The Irish will look to avenge a three-set home loss to then third-ranked Pittsburgh a season ago.
• Notre Dame’s last victory over the Panthers came via a road sweep on October 21, 2016.
ACCOLADES APLENTY
• The Irish have seen multiple players earn ACC honors over the first three weeks of the 2020 campaign.
• Libero Hattie Monson was named the ACC’s Freshman of the Week after totaling a team-high 20 digs and a game-high three aces in her Irish debut, a season-opening road sweep at Louisville on September 25.
• The Irish swept the ACC weekly honors on October 6 with Charley Niego being named the conference’s Player of the Week and Lindsey Miller earning Freshman of the Week honors.
• Niego opened last weekend with a 19-kill, 18-dig performance in last Friday’s four-set victory over Syracuse before adding 15 kills with a .467 hitting percentage the following day in a sweep of the Orange.
• Miller totaled 20 kills, seven blocks and a hitting percentage of .588 in the pair of victories over Syracuse last weekend.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
• A trio of freshmen in Aubrey Hamilton, Lindsey Miller and Hattie Monson have made an immediate impact for the Irish this season.
• Miller currently stands second in the nation with a .532 hitting percentage and has racked up 27 kills and nine blocks in her first three collegiate starts.
• Monson has a team-high 41 digs in three matches and ranks ninth in the ACC with a mark of 4.10 digs per set. She also ranks seventh in the ACC with a team-high seven aces.
• Hamilton has totaled 22 kills, nine digs and four blocks in her first three collegiate contests.
• All three freshmen have started each of Notre Dame’s first three games and appeared in all 10 sets of play.
—ND—