SANTA CLARA, Calif. – It’s that time of year again as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish volleyball team opens up their 2024 season on the road in Santa Clara, CA. The Irish will compete in the Catholic Challenge, playing Villanova and host Santa Clara on Saturday, Aug. 31. Last season, the same event was hosted in Pennsylvania by the Wildcats where the Irish swept Villanova in the first match and fell 2-3 in a close five-set battle to the Broncos. Sydney Palazzolo led the offensive charge for Notre Dame with 12 kills and a .333 hitting percentage in the win over Villanova and 23 kills and five service aces against Santa Clara.
NOTRE DAME vs. VILLANOVA – Saturday, August 31 at 4 PM ET (1 PM PT)
Location: Santa Clara, Calif. | Leavey Center
WATCH | LIVE STATS | SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES
NOTRE DAME vs. SANTA CLARA – Saturday, August 31 at 10 PM ET (7 PM PT)
Location: Santa Clara, Calif. | Leavey Center
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HISTORY VS. VILLANOVA
- This will be the 25th meeting between the Irish and the Wildcats with Notre Dame leading the overall series 20-4.
- Prior to last season’s Catholic Challenge, the last match up between the two squads was September 12, 2021 on the road as the Irish fell in five (16-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-23, 9-15).
- Notre Dame won the previous match up before the loss in 2021 as the two faced off almost ten years prior on October 21, 2012.
- The Irish took home the road sweep 25-15, 25-18, 25-13 in their last game together as BIG EAST opponents.
HISTORY VS. SANTA CLARA
- This is just the seventh time in program history that the Irish and Broncos have faced off. Santa Clara leads the series 5-1.
- Prior to last season’s Catholic Challenge, it had been 13 years since the last game between the two programs.Notre Dame fell in three (18-25, 19-25, 24-26) in the last match up on September 18, 2010 at home in the Notre Dame Invitational.
FRESH FACES
- Notre Dame’s incoming freshman class ranked 13th in the nation according to Prep Dig.
- The Irish welcome six freshman to the team, bringing the Irish to a roster size of 22 – Rockwell’s largest roster since starting in 2022.
- The freshman class consists of Grace Langer (MB), Anna Bjork (MB), Kailyn Greene- Gordon (OPP), Mia Radeff (OH), Morgan Gaerte (OH), and Mallory Bohl (MB).
- Gaerte was the number one recruit coming out of Indiana, hailing from Angola High School, just a little over an hour from South Bend.
- Notre Dame also welcomes setter Ella Sandt to the 2024 squad, a graduate transfer from Saint Mary’s.
KEY RETURNERS
- The Irish return five rising sophomores, six rising juniors, a pair of rising seniors, and a pair of graduate students.
- Notre Dame’s two graduate students, Hattie Monson and Lauren Tarnoff, are each using their fifth and final seasons to finish their careers at ND. Monson led the Irish with 397 digs last season, while Tarnoff was second on the team last season in blocks (84).
- Senior Phyona Schrader is also back for another season with the Irish. Schrader led the conference last season with the only triple double recorded in the ACC. She tallied 14 kills, 22 assists, and 13 digs in the win over Wake Forest at home on November 17, 2023.
- Outside hitter Lucy Trump returns for her junior season as she tallied 135 kills and was second on the team with 22 aces. She led the Irish offensively her freshman year with 252 kills.
POINT LEADING PALAZZOLO
- Sydney Palazzolo joined the Irish last season after spending her first two seasons as an all-conference standout at High Point.
- Palazzolo was named Second Team All-ACC and was a top-5 leader in the ACC in eight different categories last year:
– Total attacks (1,092) – Ranked 1st
– Attacks per set (10.81) – Ranked 1st
– Aces per set (.50) – Ranked 2nd
– Kills per set (3.85) – Ranked 2nd
– Points (461.5) – Ranked 2nd
– Points per set (4.57) – Ranked 3rd
– Service Aces (50) – Ranked 3rd
– Total Kills (389) – Ranked 5th