RALEIGH, N.C. – The Notre Dame Volleyball team overcame an early deficit Sunday afternoon, taking down NC State in five sets, 21-25, 25-20, 25-21, 18-25, 15-8. The Irish improved to 9-13 on the season and 6-8 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. It’s the fourth road win of the year for Notre Dame.
Sunday marked the first win for the Irish in Raleigh since October 24, 1986 and the first win over the Wolfpack for head coach Salima Rockwell.
Morgan Gaerte was a force to be reckoned with. The sophomore had 21 kills, a career-high seven blocks (three solo) and tied her career-high with four aces. It was her sixth 20 kill game of the season, which is tied for the third-most in program history in a single-season.
Gaerte, for the 22nd-straight game, recorded double-digit kills, putting herself in solo second place in single-season history for Notre Dame. The sophomore is just three away from tying the program record and four games away from potentially breaking it.
Sydney Helmers recorded her third double-double of the season with 14 kills and a career-high 19 digs. Four of her kills game in the fifth set, including the match clincher. The junior also had three service aces and three blocks.
Maya Baker (26 assists) and Lily Fenton (23 assists) led the Irish attack, marking the fifth time this season that the Irish have had two setters tally 20 or more assists in the same game.
Up the middle, Anna Bjork had eight kills on .500 hitting as well as seven total blocks. Grace Langer added six blocks of her own to create a barrier all day for NC State attacks.
The Irish return home to Purcell Pavilion to host 14th-ranked Miami on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. before hosting Florida State Sunday at noon. Admission to all regular season games is free and both games will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
How it happened
Set 1
- Notre Dame got the opening serve and scored the first two points, including an early service aces from Sydney Helmers
- A 6-0 NC State run gave the Wolfpack the lead at 13-9. The Wolfpack led 15-11 at the media timeout
- A separate 4-0 run for NC State, part of an 11-2 run overall, made it 18-11 to force an Irish timeout
- Two kills each out of the timeout from Gaerte and Helmers broke up NC State’s momentum a bit as the Irish cut it to a four-point Wolfpack lead
- Back-to-back kills from Chichi Nnaji and Gaerte forced a NC State timeout with the Wolfpack up 23-20
- Facing set point, a block from Nnaji and Grace Langer kept the Irish alive momentarily before a kill from NC State closed the opening set 25-21 Wolfpack
- Gaerte had five kills in the set for Notre Dame
- Five different Irish had kills in the set (Gaerte, Helmers, Nnaji, Anna Bjork and Mae Kordas)
Set 2
- After a successful challenge, NC State jumped out to a 6-3 lead early in the second set
- A 4-1 Irish run, capped off by Helmers’ second ace of the game, cut the Wolfpack lead to just one
- Kordas’ third kill of the game tied the set at 13-13
- The third ace for Helmers’ gave Notre Dame an 18-17 lead to force a Wolfpack timeout
- The Irish extended their run to 7-0 out of the timeout to make it 22-17
- Notre Dame cruised to a 25-20 set win, with Lucy Trump’s kill clinching the set victory
Set 3
- Down one early, a 5-1 run from Notre Dame vaulted it into the lead at 8-5
- Back-to-back Irish blocks put them up 14-9. Notre Dame went up 15-10 at the media timeout
- Shortly after, NC State called timeout after a beautiful ace from Baker to make it 17-10 Irish
- The Wolfpack responded out of the timeout, going on a 4-0 run and capitalizing on mistakes to cut the deficit to three
- Notre Dame got their outsides hitting after that timeout, getting two kills from Gaerte and one apiece from Helmers and Trump to take the set 25-21 and a 2-1 match advantage
Set 4
- It was all NC State early to begin the fourth set. The Wolfpack had a 15-9 lead at the media timeout
- A 3-0 run forced a Wolfpack timeout at 19-14 NC State
- The Wolfpack kept Notre Dame at a distance all set, winning 25-21 to force a fifth set
Set 5
- The Irish jumped out to a 3-0 lead off kills from Anna Bjork and Gaerte. Gaerte also had a block
- Notre Dame extended its lead to 5-1 after a successful challenge from Rockwell
- After an NC State response, Notre Dame went into the media timeout up 8-6
- The Irish continued to pile on, going on a 5-2 run out of the timeout to make it 13-8
- Helmers ended the game with her 14th kill of the season, helping Notre Dame head home with a road win.