SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-2) open up conference play this weekend as they take on Boston College (11-3) on Friday, September 22 and Syracuse (2-8) on Sunday, September 24 in Purcell Pavilion.
NOTRE DAME vs. BOSTON COLLEGE
Location: South Bend, Ind. | Purcell Pavilion
Time: 6:30 PM
TV: ACCNX
Live Stats: Click here
Twitter Updates: @NDvolleyball
Promotion: Tailgate Night – first 500 fans will receive Notre Dame Volleyball koozies
NOTRE DAME vs. SYRACUSE
Location: South Bend, Ind. | Purcell Pavilion
Time: 12 PM
TV: ACCNX
Live Stats: Click here
Twitter Updates: @NDvolleyball
Promotion: Poster giveaway and postgame autograph session
Due to multiple events occurring on campus Friday night, available parking immediately adjacent to Purcell Pavilion, Alumni Stadium, and Notre Dame Stadium will be limited. Should those lots be full, please continue to the Bulla lot or Innovation Park lots. Parking in all of these lots is free.
A WEEK IN REVIEW
- Notre Dame defeated Toledo in a home-and-home as they advanced to 6-2 on the year. The Irish defeated Toledo at home 3-1 on Friday, Sept. 15 and won 3-0 on the road on Sunday, Sept. 17.
- Charity McDowell helped guide the Irish to another undefeated weekend as she finished with 17 kills, an impressive .739 attack percentage, and six blocks. She also finished with zero errors across both matches
- In Friday’s win, McDowell tallied 10 kills and a .667 hitting percentage. In Sunday’s win, McDowell recorded seven kills with an .875 attack percentage and five blocks for the Irish
- Nicole Drewnick recorded 86 assists on the weekend, tallying 50 assists against Toledo at home on Friday.
- Ava Lange also recorded a career-high 16 kills in Friday’s win.
HISTORY VS. BOSTON COLLEGE
- The Fighting Irish are undefeated at home as they enter conference play in Purcell Pavilion this Friday, September 22 to take on Boston College.
- This will be the 28th meeting between the Irish and the Eagles with Notre Dame leading the overall series 23-4.
- Notre Dame has won the last nine matchups against Boston College, but had their longest winning streak against the Eagles from 1991-2003 where the Irish won 10 straight.
- The last Irish and Eagle matchup was on Oct. 9, 2022 where Notre Dame defeated Boston College in four on the road (29-27, 25-21, 13-25, 25-23).
HISTORY VS. SYRACUSE
- This will be the 39th meeting between the Irish and the Orange with Notre Dame leading the overall series 29-9.
- The Irish have won the last five matchups against Syracuse, with their longest winning streak being from 1990-2010 where the Irish won 18 straight against the Orange.
- The last matchup was on Oct. 7, 2022 where the Irish defeated Syracuse in three sets on the road (25-21, 25, 23, 25-20).
- The Irish were led by Paris Thompson who finished with a career-high 20 kills and a .310 hitting percentage.
MEET THE TRANSFERS
- Two transfers join the Irish for the 2023 season. Sydney Palazzolo enters into her junior season after spending freshman and sophomore year at High Point. Nicole Drewnick is a graduate transfer hailing from Georgia Tech.
- Palazzolo had a decorated two seasons in North Carolina, earning a plethora of awards at High Point.
- Last season, Palazzolo earned Big South Player of the Year and Big South First Team All-Conference honors and was named the Big South All-Tournament MVP. She was recognized as an AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region player and an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American. She was also tabbed as the Big South Player of the Week three times.
- Palazzolo finished her sophomore season with a team-best 443 kills, 321 digs, 27 blocks, and led the conference with 42 service aces.
- Not only was she recognized as the Big South Freshman of the Year in 2021, but she was also named to the Big South All-Conference Second Team and All-Freshman Team.
- While Drewnick spent her freshman season at Nebraska, she most recently has spent the last two seasons with Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
- Drewnick appeared in 20 matches and 43 sets last season with the Yellow Jackets and finished the season with 99 assists and 16 digs.
MEET THE FRESHMEN
- Five freshmen join the Irish for the 2023 season. Freshmen additions include Alyssa Manitzas, Lily Fenton, Logan Brannan, Olivia Maulding, and Ava Lange.
- Manitzas was a part of the Under Armour All-American game and was also named the 2021 Prep Dig Top Libero in Texas. The San Antonio, TX native is the all-time dig leader at Cornerstone Christian High School.
- Fenton was a First Team All-Conference and All-District player out of Latrobe, PA. Fenton was a three-year captain and was the Greater Latrobe High School program all-time assist leader.
- Brannan hails from Lake Travis High School in Austin, TX and was a First Team All-District and TGCA All-State honoree.
- A gradute of La Salle Prep, Maulding was named the 2022 Northwest Oregon Co-player of the Year, while also being named to the 2022 Oregon State Championship All-Tournament Team. Maulding was recognized as the 2022 Volleyball Magazine Top Performer in Oregon.
- Lange was a nationally recognized four star player out of Playa Del Rey, CA, who was named to the AVCA All-America Watch List and played in the 2022 USAV Girls 17’s Junior National Championship.
RETURNERS
- The Irish return six rising sophomore, a pair of rising juniors, and a trio of rising seniors.
- Sophomores Lucy Trump and Avery Ross were offensive power houses for the Irish last season as both outside hitters led Notre Dame in their first years in an Irish uniform. Trump led the way with 252 kills, followed by Ross with 227 kills.
- Juniors Phyona Schrader and Paris Thompson return for their third seasons at Notre Dame. Thompson returns after tallying 148 kills and 71 digs across 63 sets last season.
- Schrader led the Irish last season with 877 assists and was second on the team with 333 digs. The setter also led the ACC with two triple-doubles and finished second in the conference with 17 double-doubles.
- Hattie Monson, Lauren Tarnoff, and Charity McDowell are rising seniors for the Irish after playing in a combined 259 sets as a class last season.
- Monson played in all 108 sets for the Irish as the libero recorded 453 digs in her junior campaign, while also surpassing the 1,000 career digs mark. She heads into her senior season with 1,163 career digs.
- Both Tarnoff and McDowell return as middle blockers for the Irish as the duo finished with 141 combined blocks; Tarnoff was second on the team with 80 blocks and McDowell was third with 61. Tarnoff also led the Irish with a team-best 15 solo blocks.