SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish open up in South Bend in Compton Family Ice Arena this weekend to take on Colorado State and Northwestern on Friday and Saturday.
The Irish are coming off a win against Northwestern on Thursday night, where Phyona Schrader continued to impress.
She’s been the only player in the ACC to record a triple-double and after recording one last Sunday in the win over Mississippi State, she’s done it again now in back-to-back matches. The senior setter finished with an impressive stat line of a career-high 21 kills, 19 assists, 13 digs, a .529 hitting percentage, and 3 blocks.
Last weekend, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish advanced to 3-1 on the season after defeating Mississippi State on Sunday, September 8 in the StarkVegas Classic. After falling to Michigan in four sets the night before, the Irish ended the weekend with a big five-set win over the SEC opponent and StarkVegas Classic host, Mississippi State.
What a day for senior Phyona Schrader against the Bulldogs, who after a great opening weekend, did it again for the second weekend in a row. She finished with a triple-double (the only player in the ACC so far to record one) of 18 kills, 25 assists, and 14 digs, also recording a .375 hitting percentage, 4 blocks, and 2 service aces.
NOTRE DAME vs. COLORADO STATE – Friday, September 13 at 6 PM
Location: South Bend, In. | Compton Family Ice Arena
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NOTRE DAME vs. NORTHWESTERN – Saturday, September 14 at 6:30 PM
Location: South Bend, In. | Compton Family Ice Arena
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HISTORY VS. COLORADO STATE
This will be the 4th meeting between the Irish and Rams as Notre Dame is still seeking their first program win over Colorado State. The Rams lead 3-0.
The last match up was in 2000 in South Bend as Notre Dame hosted the Rams in the Golden Invitational, falling 7-15, 7-15, 14-16.
HISTORY VS. NORTHWESTERN
This will be the 14th meeting between the Irish and the Wildcats with Notre Dame leading the overall series 9-4. Notre Dame has won the last five matches against Northwestern.
The Irish defeated the Wildcats on Thursday night in four sets (25-22, 14-25, 25-17, 25-18).
Phyona Schrader finished with an impressive stat line of a career-high 21 kills, 19 assists, 13 digs, a .529 hitting percentage, and 3 blocks.
Prior to Thursday night’s match, the last match up between the two squads was nearly 20 years ago as they last played on December 2, 2005 (30-27, 32-30, 30-28).
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.
SALIMA ROCKWELL
Salima Rockwell heads into her third year at the helm of the program after finishing year one with a record of 21-33.
Rockwell spent this past summer prepping for the 2024 Olympic games as she was selected to be an analyst for NBC for both the men’s and women’s matches.
Rockwell, a four-time national champion coach and three-time All-American, is the seventh head coach in Notre Dame volleyball history.
For the past three years, Rockwell has served as a color commentator for ESPN, Fox Sports, Big Ten Network and CBS Sports.
Rockwell spent nine years coaching at her alma mater, Penn State University, holding titles of associate head coach, assistant coach and director of operations over two different stints in Happy Valley (2006-2009 and 2015-17).
As a student-athlete, Rockwell was a three-time All-American setter, was named to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament team, helped guide the Nittany Lions to an NCAA Championship runner-up finish, was four-time All-Big Ten honoree, and led Penn State to Big Ten championships in 1992 and 1993.
Rockwell’s name is peppered throughout the legendary Penn State record books – ranking sixth all-time on the program’s career assists list (5,455) and eighth on the career digs chart (1,278). She is an inductee into the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame.
Between her two coaching tours at Penn State, Rockwell also spent five seasons (2009-2013) at the University of Texas. While in Austin, she helped lead the Longhorns to the 2012 National Championship title, its first in almost 25 years.