Oct. 31, 2014
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the second match in a row the University of Notre Dame volleyball team carried a 2-1 lead into the fourth frame only to drop two sets in a row, as the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets overcame a road deficit to beat the Irish, 3-2 (17-25, 25-12, 11-25, 25-23, 15-11), on Halloween night at Purcell Pavilion.
In a match that was spookily similar to last Saturday’s loss at Virginia, the Irish hit pretty well as a team with four players over .265 while recording a match-high 10 blocks. However, just like last week against the Cavaliers, the Irish couldn’t make the one or two extra plays needed in the critical fourth set to finish off the match in four. Untimely service errors also hurt Notre Dame, as it recorded 11 on the night.
In the fifth, the Yellow Jackets took a 6-6 tie score and turned it into a 12-8 advantage to put the home team in the corner. Notre Dame trimmed the margin to 13-11 on a kill by freshman Sydney Kuhn, but the Jackets finished off the comeback win with a kill from Courtney Felinski followed by an attack error on the Irish.
A pretty straight-forward match featured just eight ties and five lead changes, as Notre Dame controlled the first and third sets and Georgia Tech blew the Irish out in the second before leading from 11-10 on in the nail-biting fourth frame.
In a losing effort, Kuhn recorded her third career double-double with 11 kills and a career-high 15 digs, while senior Jeni Houser also produced her third career double-double with 13 kills and a career-high 12 digs to go along with five blocks and two service aces. Both Kuhn and Houser have now set personal bests in digs in two consecutive matches.
With her 12 kills, Houser moved into 11th place in school history for career kills with 1,219 and also moved into a tie for sixth place for most matches with 10+ kills (72).
Elsewhere, freshman Sam Fry totaled 11 kills and four blocks while hitting an impressive .455 and sophomore Katie Higgins had nine kills and four blocks while attacking at a .353 clip. Freshman libero Natalie Johnson had 12 digs and a season-high two service aces.
For Georgia Tech, standouts Teegan Van Gunst (13 kills, 13 digs, 4 service aces) and Felinski (13 kills) posted double figures in kills. Libero London Ackermann totaled 20 digs, while Ashtaan Horton recorded six kills and hit an impressive .625. Setter Rebecca Martin produced 41 assists, seven digs, two blocks and three kills.
Notre Dame (5-17, 2-9 ACC) hits the road for Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts Saturday morning, as it prepares for a 12 p.m. Sunday match against the Boston College Eagles. The contest will be the second meeting of the season for the two teams, as the Irish rallied from a 0-2 deficit to best the Eagles in a five-set thriller Oct. 19 at Purcell.
Fans can follow the match through live stats or a free video stream. Links for both are on UND.com.
–Russell Dorn, Assistant Media Relations Director
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