SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-2) are back at home as they take on the No. 5 Louisville Cardinals on Wednesday, September 27 in Purcell Pavilion.
NOTRE DAME vs. BOSTON COLLEGE
Location: South Bend, Ind. | Purcell Pavilion
Time: 7 PM
TV: ACCN
Live Stats: Click here
Twitter Updates: @NDvolleyball
A WEEK IN REVIEW
- The Notre Dame Fighting Irish maintain their undefeated record inside of Purcell Pavilion as the Irish (8-2, 2-0) are on a six game win streak after defeating Boston College and Syracuse in the ACC opening weekend.
- The Irish defeated the Eagles in a five set thriller (25-21, 16-25, 24-26, 25-15, 15-6) on Friday, Sept. 22.
- Freshman Ava Lange led the Irish with a career-high 17 kills, followed by Sydney Palazzolo with 15 kills and 18 digs.
- Nicole Drewnick dished out 47 assists, while also recording seven kills and a .438 hitting percentage.
- Notre Dame capped off the weekend with a sweep over the Syracuse Orange (26-24, 25-9, 25-18).
- Palazzolo led Sunday’s match with 13 kills and a .588 hitting percentage. Phyona Schrader also recorded 10 kills and a team-best .643 attack percentage.
HISTORY VS. LOUISVILLE
- This will be the 46th match up between the ACC rivals as Notre Dame leads the overall series 23–22.
- The Irish and Cardinals played in a home and home last season as they last faced off in Purcell Pavilion on November 23, 2022 where the Irish fell in three sets (22-25, 22-25, 13-25).
- Lucy Trump led the Irish with 12 kills, followed by Avery Ross with eight kills and a team-best .353 hitting percentage in their last match with the Cardinals.
- Prior to playing in Purcell, the Irish fell in three (10-25, 22-25, 14-25) in their first match against Louisville last season at the KFC Yum Center on Oct. 26, 2022. There was a record-breaking attendance for the Irish/Cardinal matchup as 9,058 fans were in attendance.
- The last Notre Dame win was on Sept. 25, 2020, as the Irish defeated the Cardinals on the road in three sets (27-25, 25-22, 26-24).
- The longest ND winning streak was from 1986-1992 where the Irish won six straight matches against the Cardinals.
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.