Nov. 17, 2013
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The University of Notre Dame volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-21) to No. 22 Florida State in front of 1,150 fans at Tully Gym Sunday afternoon.
For the second time this season, the Irish (11-16, 5-11 ACC) struggled in several areas against the talented Seminole squad. Sunday, Notre Dame hit .163, had nine service errors and tallied only four blocks as FSU had its way on offense. The home squad produced 41 kills in 96 chances and served aggressively with seven aces.
A pair of Seminoles reached double-digit kills as sophomore Nicole Walch (13K, .522 A%) and redshirt freshman Sarah Burrington (10K, .471 A%) combined for 23 kills and a .500 attack percentage. Walch also added two service aces, while senior Olivera Medic led the squad with three aces.
In a losing effort, senior Nicole Smith tallied nine kills and hit .364, while junior Meg Vonderhaar had eight kills and hit .333.
The Seminoles jumped out quickly on the Irish, taking a quick first set, 25-13. Up 6-4, FSU went on a 5-0 run to extend its margin to 11-4. A pair of kills by freshman Izzy Carmona and a service ace by Walch highlighted the run. Later in the set, an ace by junior Sarah Wickstrom upped the advantage to eight at 15-7. The lead grew to 11 at 20-9 after a kill from Neff before a kill and ace by Walch and another kill by Neff gave the Seminoles a 1-0 lead. The set had no ties or lead changes.
Notre Dame put up more of a fight in set two, holding a lead as late as 17-15. Later in the frame, the Irish tied the set at 21 behind consecutive kills from Vonderhaar. However, a service error gave the ball back to the Seminoles and FSU capitalized by putting home a pair of kills and a service ace to take the set, 25-21, and go up 2-0 on the visiting Irish.
FSU closed out the match in set three, fighting off a scrappy Irish squad that forced seven ties and four lead changes in the frame to win the set, 25-21, and the match, 3-0. The Irish last tied the match at 16, but a service error gave the serve back to the Seminoles. Notre Dame trimmed the lead to one at 19-18, but had three untimely service errors over the course of the rest of the set to squash any comeback attempts. Neff’s seventh kill of the day ended the match.
Notre Dame returns home this week to close out the regular season with four consecutive matches at Purcell Pavilion. The Irish welcome in Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. Wednesday before playing host to Virginia at 4:30 p.m. Friday. After Thanksgiving, Notre Dame plays Boston College (4 p.m., Nov. 29) and Syracuse (2 p.m., Nov. 30).
— Russell Dorn, Assistant Media Relations Director
–ND–