PREVIEW: Wake Forest

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-14, 4-12 ACC) host Wake Forest (17-9, 8-7 ACC) in their final home match of the season in Purcell on Friday, Nov. 17. The Irish will also be honoring Nicole Drewnick and Charity McDowell in a senior night celebration on court directly after the match.

NOTRE DAME vs. WAKE FOREST
Location: South Bend, IN | Purcell Pavilion
Time: 6:30 PM
TV: ACCNX
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDvolleyball

Game Notes 

A WEEK IN REVIEW

• The Notre Dame Fighting Irish fell to Clemson at home in four sets (20-25, 25-13, 20-25, 17-25) on Friday, Nov. 10 and Virgnia on the road in five on Sunday, Nov. 12 (23-25, 25-19, 26-24, 23-25, 14-16). 
• Sydney Palazzolo led the way with 29 kills on the weekend (3.22 kills per set) and was followed by Ava Lange with 23 kills. Lucy Trump finished with 16 kills and an impressive .364 hitting percentage.
• Charity McDowell finished the weekend with 13 blocks while Lauren Tarnoff recorded 10 blocks.
• The Irish are hoping for another great turnout for their final home match of the season as they set a season-high attendance against Miami (Oct. 27). Notre Dame had a crowd of 2,128, which sits at number 15 for the highest attendance in program history. 
• Purcell was also packed the weekend prior on Friday, Oct. 13 against Virginia and Sunday, Oct. 15 against Pitt. Friday’s crowd of 2,070 and Sunday’s crowd of 2,016 were some of the highest attendance numbers the program has had in the last nine years and are the 17th and 18th highest attended matches in program history.
• Since the start of the #RockwellEra, attendance has been up 199% and is up 99% since last year. 
• Currently, the Irish are 5th in the ACC and 50th in the country for average attendance this season. 

HISTORY VS. WAKE FOREST 

• This will be the 14th meeting between the Irish and the Demon Deacons with Notre Dame leading the overall series 8-5. 
• This is the second meeting between the Irish and Demon Deacons this season as the Irish fell in three (24-26, 22-25, 18-25) on October 22 at Reynolds Gymnasium. Palazzolo led the Irish with 17 kills and a .306 hitting percentage.
• Notre Dame took down the Demon Deacons in a five set thriller inside of Purcell Pavilion last season (17-25, 25-23, 25-21, 14-25, 15-13).
• The Irish were led by Paris Thompson with 15 kills, followed by Avery Ross with 13. Lauren Tarnoff finished with 12 kills and seven blocks. Phyona Schrader also posted an impressive stat line with 41 assists, 29 digs, and eight kills.

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.