EVANSTON, Ill. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish advanced to 4-1 on the season after defeating Northwestern in four sets (25-22, 14-25, 25-17, 25-18) on the road on Thursday night.
Phyona Schrader has been nothing shy of impressive this season. 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. Tonight 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.
Sydney Palazzolo finished with a double-double of 14 kills and 10 digs. She was followed by Mia Radeff, who recorded a career-high 10 kills, .348 hitting percentage, and 2 blocks. Anna Bjork also chipped in 9 kills, 3 blocks, and a .467 hitting percentage.
Notre Dame was off to a 6-2 start in set one, which would tie the largest lead of the set from either side. It was a close set through the rest of its entirety with 10 ties. With the Irish leading 22-18, Northwestern closed the gap to 22-21 and forced the Notre Dame timeout. The Wildcats tied it up at 22-22, but two kills from Schrader and a big-time block from Mia Radeff and Grace Langer would secure the set one win for the Irish.
It was close to start the second set with the Irish up one at 7-6, but an 8-1 run from the Wildcats made it 14-8 to force a Notre Dame timeout. The Irish brought it within six at 18-12, but Northwestern would take the second 25-14.
Hungry for another set win, Notre Dame came out strong in the third. While the Wildcats had it within two at 8-6, the Irish offense was building momentum and started to get on a roll. An ace from Hattie Monson made it an 18-9 ballgame and forced a Northwestern timeout. The closest the Wildcats could cut it to was six at 19-13, but Notre Dame would take the 2-1 advantage after winning 25-17.
Tied at 6-6 to start set four, the Irish looked to pull ahead with the lead as a 6-1 run put them out in front 12-7. With the Irish leading 15-9, a 4-0 Wildcat run closed the gap to two and forced a Notre Dame timeout. The Irish scored five straight out of the timeout to make it 20-13 and would go on to take the final set 25-18.
The Irish are set to host Colorado State and Northwestern tomorrow and Saturday in the Volleyball On Ice event at Compton Family Ice Arena.