Sept. 18, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – After a confidence-boosting Golden Dome Invitational last weekend at Purcell Pavilion, the University of Notre Dame volleyball team closes out its non-conference schedule with a trip to West Lafayette, Indiana for the Purdue Boiler Box Challenge.
Purdue Boiler Box Challenge (Host: Purdue University)
West Lafayette, Indiana (Holloway Gym / Mackey Arena)
Sept. 18-19, 2015
Weekend Schedule
Friday, Sept. 18
12 p.m.: Notre Dame vs. Ball State (Holloway Gym) – 5 p.m.: Notre Dame vs. South Dakota (Holloway Gym) –
Saturday, Sept. 19
8 p.m.: Notre Dame @ #22 Purdue (Mackey Arena) – / Free Audio / Paid Video
Updates
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Here are five things you need to know to be prepared for the Purdue Boiler Box Challenge.
- The Irish head to Purdue after their best weekend of the season last weekend at Purcell … Notre Dame opened with an impressive 3-1 victory over Mississippi State Friday night before sweeping Eastern Kentucky Saturday … the sweep was the first by ND since midway through the 2013 season … the Irish closed out the weekend by suffering a sweep at the hands of No. 1 Penn State.
- Who will step up this weekend? It was junior Katie Higgins in the first weekend, freshmen Meg Morningstar and Ryann DeJarld in the second and junior Sam Fry and senior Haley Bonneval in the third. One option could be freshman outside hitter Rebecca Nunge, who had a breakout weekend at the Golden Dome Invitational … a January 2015 enrollee, Nunge had 23 kills and nine blocks while hitting .339 to earn all-tournament team honors … other options could be freshman Kelly Byrne and sophomore Natalie Johnson, who both had strong weekends at defensive specialist last weekend.
- Notre Dame is making its second consecutive appearance at the Purdue Boiler Box Challenge … last year the Irish started 2-0 with victories over Morehead State (3-2) and Saint Louis (3-1) before falling to No. 11 Purdue (3-0) in the tournament championship match.
- Sitting at 4-5, the Irish would match their win total from 2014 with two wins this weekend … Notre Dame won just three matches during non-conference play last year and already have four this season … with the win over Eastern Kentucky last weekend, the Irish reached .500 for the first time since early in the 2013 season.
- The Irish will play one new opponent (South Dakota) this weekend … meanwhile, the Irish and Ball State have played just five times, with the last meeting occurring in 1996 (a 3-2 Ball State win when ND was ranked 12th nationally) … ND and Purdue have met 19 times all-time including in each of the last two seasons (both Purdue wins) … the Boilermakers lead the series 7-12 all-time.
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Individual match tickets for Notre Dame volleyball are on sale throughout the rest of the season. Visit und.com/tickets or call the Murnane Family Ticket Office at 574-631-7356 for more information.
For the latest Irish volleyball coverage, be sure to log on to UND.com or follow the program on Facebook (/NDVolleyball), Twitter (@NDVolleyball), Instagram (NDVBall) and Snapchat (NDVolleyball).
–Russell Dorn, Athletics Communications Assistant Director
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