SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish fell in a close five set battle to Clemson on Sunday, Oct. 2 (17-25, 25-19, 20-25, 25-21, 13-15). The Irish fall to 5-9 on the season as they hit the road to take on Syracuse on Friday, Oct. 7 and Boston College on Sunday, Oct. 9.
The Irish dominated the net defensively as they finished with a season-high 21 blocks and were led by Charity McDowell who finished with a career-high 10 blocks, followed by Kaylyn Winkler with a season-high eight blocks. Paris Thompson recorded a career-high 16 kills, followed by Avery Ross who finished 14 kills and .407 hitting percentage. Phyona Schrader also tallied 34 assists and 24 digs for the Irish.
It was back and forth between the Irish and Tigers with an even set at 9-9 to start the first. The Tigers took the lead at 17-9 after an 8-0 run and took home set one 25-17.
Clemson came out swinging as the Tigers claimed an early 12-3 lead in set two, but Notre Dame wasn’t going anywhere. Kills from Paris Thomson, Charity McDowell, and Avery Ross, along with an ace from Maisie Alexander, brought the Irish within five at 13-8. Down three at 18-15, a Ross kill coupled with two aces from Phyona Schrader made it an even 18-18 set. The Irish went on a 6-0 run to close out the set and took home set two 25-19.
Both the Irish and Tigers struggled to pull away in the third set as it was tied up seven different times up to the 11-11 mark. A kill from Lauren Tarnoff made it an even 14-14, but a Clemson 3-0 run made it a 17-14 set. Notre Dame brought it back within one at 19-18, but the Tigers would go on to take set three 25-20.
Set four was tied at 5-5 before the Irish went on a 3-0 run to take the lead 8-5. Notre Dame kept the lead as the Irish and Tigers swapped points until the 12-9 mark, but a Clemson run would give the Tigers the 15-13 advantage. The Irish made it an even set at 15-15, but the Tigers responded with two points of their own to take the lead again at 17-15. A 7-0 run from Notre Dame came from stellar defense at the net as the Irish had five blocks in those seven points. The Tigers brought it within two at 22-20, but the Irish took home set four 25-21 after a solo block from Schrader capped off the set.
Set five was a close one from the start. It was tied at 5-5, but a 4-0 run from the Tigers gave Clemson the 9-5 advantage. The Irish trailed by four at 11-7 and went on a 5-2 run to bring it within one at 13-12. A kill from the Tigers extended the Clemson lead to 14-12 and a kill from Ross brought it back within one at 14-13, but the Tigers would send home one last kill to take the final set win at 15-13.