SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Fighting Irish are on a three game winning streak as they take down Wake Forest in a five set thriller in Purcell Pavilion on Friday, Oct 14. The Irish were led by Paris Thompson with 15 kills, followed by Avery Ross with 13. Lauren Tarnoff finished with 12 kills and seven blocks. Phyona Schrader also posted an impressive stat line tonight with 41 assists, 29 digs, and eight kills.
Set One
Set one was back and forth to start and was an even 6-6 before Wake Forest went on a 5-0 run to claim an early 11-6 advantage. Notre Dame brought it back within three at 20-17, but the Demon Deacons would go on to take set one 25-17.
Set Two
Tied at 4-4 to start the second, the Notre Dame offense started to catch fire as the Irish posted a 14-8 lead over Wake Forest. The Deacons weren’t going anyway as they closed the gap to one at 21-20. A kill from Ross made it a two point set at 23-21 and another kill from Ross coupled with a kill from Winkler gave the Irish set two 25-23.
Set Three
Notre Dame and Wake Forest swapped points to start, but the Irish weren’t able to pull away by more than four as the set went on. The Demon Deacons made it a one point set at 15-14, but an Irish run with kills from Ross and Thompson gave Notre Dame the 19-14 lead. The Irish and Demon Deacons exchanged points up until the 24-19 mark, and while Wake Forest closed the gap to 24-21, a kill from Ross gave the Irish set three 25-21.
Set Four
While it was a close 6-6 start in set four, Wake Forest was able to pull away after a 10-2 run to make it a 16-9 set. Notre Dame looked to close the gap, but the Demon Deacons took home set four 25-14 to tie it up at 2-2 heading into set five.
Set Five
Wake Forest took an early 5-4 lead and a 6-1 run from the Demon Deacons quickly made it an 11-5 set. The Irish continued to fight as kills from Ross and an ace from Schrader closed the gap to two at 11-9. A kill from Winkler and an ace from Maisie Alexander made it a one point set at 12-11 and another kill from WInkler coupled with a kill from Thompson made it an even 13-13. Hattie Monson had a big time service ace to take the lead 14-13 and the icing on the cake to close the set was a block from Tarnoff and Winkler to give the Irish the 15-13 set five victory.
Up Next
- The Irish will host Virginia Tech at 1:00 p.m. at Purcell Pavilion on Sunday, Oct. 16.