NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The sixth-ranked Notre Dame volleyball team swept (25-18, 26-24, 25-16) fifth-ranked Syracuse on Saturday night inside Purcell Pavilion to improve to 3-0.
Caroline Meuth led the Irish with 17 kills, while Charley Niego finished with 15 kills – including six in the final set – while hitting .467. Zoe Nunez finished with 43 assists giving her 94 assists over the two matches versus the Orange. Nunez also led the Irish with 11 digs.
Freshman Lindsey Miller added nine kills on 16 swings while Hattie Monson notched three aces.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
The teams opened their second match in as many nights trading points early. After falling behind 13-12, the Irish rattled off three straight points to take a 15-13 lead that they would not relinquish en route to the 25-18 first set victory.
Meuth had a set-high seven kills, while Nunez had 15 assists and Nancy Kane added a key ace to extend Notre Dame’s lead to 18-15.
Second Set
Syracuse opened the second set on a 5-0 run before a Hannah Thompson kill halted the streak. The Orange continued to lead before a Hamilton kill gave the Irish their first lead of the set at 15-14. Notre Dame extended the lead to 17-15 as part of a 6-0 run, capped by a Monson ace.
Syracuse was able to tie things up at 22-22 and then tie it back up at 24-24 after a coaches challenge. Leading 25-24 following an Orange service error, Niego’s kill sealed the second-set victory, 26-24.
Third Set
Notre Dame jumped out to a 4-0 lead to set the tone early in the third set.
A Niego kill down the line made it 10-5 in favor of the Irish and then another Niego kill, also down the line, gave the Irish a 12-6 lead and forced the Orange to call a timeout.
Three straight points by Syracuse cut Notre Dame’s lead to 14-10 before an ace by Monson capped a 3-0 run to put the Irish up 17-10.
The Irish stayed in control, and a pair of kills by Niego sealed the 25-16 set-victory and weekend sweep.
UP NEXT
The No. 6 Irish are off next weekend before returning to action with a pair of home matches against No. 10 Pitt on Friday, October 16 and Sunday, October 18. That Friday’s contest will be televised on ESPNU while Sunday’s match will be shown on ACC Network.
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—ND—