Irish Drop 3-0 Decision at No. 6 Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The Notre Dame volleyball team (11-8, 5-4 ACC) was downed 3-0 by the sixth-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers here tonight in its ninth contest in conference play. Pittsburgh captured the three sets by scores of 25-23, 25-17 and 25-18.

Freshman Sydney Bent and junior Jemma Yeadon led the Irish attack with nine kills each, while freshman Zoe Nunez recorded 29 assists for Notre Dame. Freshman Charley Niego recorded a team-high 15 kills and senior Ryann DeJarld notched 11 kills.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set
The opening stanza saw the two sides battle to a 14-14 tie with a combined six service errors. The Irish broke the deadlock by rattling off four straight points in a run that included kills by Meg Morningstar, Bent and Yeadon. With Notre Dame holding a 21-17 advantage, the hosts earned five of the next six points to level the score again at 22-22. The Panthers clinched the 25-23 set victory after back-to-back kills.

Second Set
Pittsburgh jumped out to a 5-1 lead and stayed on top throughout the second frame to earn the 25-17 win and a 2-0 lead in the match. The Irish used a 4-1 spurt to cut Pitt’s lead to 12-11, but that’s as close as Notre Dame would get as the Panthers answered with a 4-1 streak of their own to regain control of the set.

Third Set
The start of the third stanza was back-and-forth with the two sides eventually locked in an 11-all tie. From there, the Panthers took the lead for good with a 5-1 run. A kill by Yeadon cut the Pittsburgh lead to 19-16, but the hosts captured six of the next eight points to earn the 25-18 set win and the sweep.  

UP NEXT
The Irish travel down to Charlottesville to take on the Virginia Cavaliers on Sunday (Oct. 21). The match is slated for 1 p.m. and will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.

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