Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Irish Fall to Duke Blue Devils

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish fell to the Duke Blue Devils in Purcell Pavilion on Sunday, Oct. 30 in five sets (25-19, 25-17, 18-25, 16-25, 8-15). 

The Irish were led by Lucy Trump with 18 kills, followed by Paris Thompson who tallied 10 kills. Lauren Tarnoff also recorded nine kills and a .300 hitting percentage, while fellow middle Charity McDowell tallied five blocks for the Irish. Phyona Schrader finished with 40 assists, 16 digs, and eight kills. 

It was an even 5-5 to start, but the Irish were able to pull away to take a 15-11 lead. The Blue Devils closed the gap to one at 15-14, but the Irish would extend their lead again to 18-14. Notre Dame closed out the set one win with a 4-0 run sparked by a Schrader kill, which also included kills from Tarnoff and Maddy Waumans as well. 

Similar to set one, set two was back and forth between the Irish and Blue Devils and was tied at 11-11. Kills from Tarnoff and Trump helped give the Irish the four point lead at 15-11 and the Irish maintained the four point advantage as it became a 19-15 set. Kills from Trump, McDowell, and Thompson made it a 22-16 set, but back-to-back aces from Trump made it set point for Notre Dame (24-16). One final kill from Paris Thompson gave the Irish their second set win at 25-17).

Notre Dame was in the fight to start set three as the Irish led at 9-8. However, that would be Notre Dame’s last lead of the set as the Blue Devil offense started to heat up and post an 18-13 lead over the Irish. Duke went on to take set three 25-18. 

It was another close start in set four and after being tied at 10-10, the Irish were able to claim a 13-11 lead. Duke responded with a 7-0 run to take the lead 18-13 and closed out the set to make it an even 25-25 heading into set five. 

The Blue Devils claimed an early 7-2 lead in the fifth set and while the Irish closed the gap to three at 7-4, Notre Dame would fall to Duke 15-8 in the final set. 

UP NEXT 

  • Notre Dame is back at home as they host North Carolina on Friday, Nov. 4 and North Carolina State on Sunday, Nov. 6.