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Yeadon's 24 Kills Powers Irish Past Florida State

Oct. 20, 2017

Box Score

By Robby Hamman

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Notre Dame (15-5, 5-4 ACC) turned in an impressive all-around performance on Friday evening in Tallahassee, as the Irish handed the Seminoles a 3-1 (25-18, 17-25, 25-18, 26-24) defeat on their home floor. Notre Dame has now won five of its last six matches.

Sophomore Jemma Yeadon matched her career high in kills with 24 against the Seminoles, while teammate Rebecca Nunge added 12 to lead the Irish to the victory. Caroline Holt did an excellent job of distributing from the setter position, amassing 51 assists on the evening. The other standout performance came from Ryann DeJarld, as the junior posted 35 digs in just four sets of play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Irish came out hot on Friday evening, comfortably winning the first set by a score of 25-18 to open an early 1-0 lead in the match. Notre Dame opened up a 10-5 advantage to start the match and did not give up the lead the rest of the set. DeJarld and Yeadon put up huge numbers in the first frame. DeJarld finished the set with 15 digs and Yeadon led the way in kills with eight.

The hosts rebounded in the second stanza and battled back to tie the match at 1-1. The Seminoles led 11-6 in the opening stages of the set but the Irish refused to go away, as Notre Dame leveled the score at 16-16. However, Florida State answered with a 4-0 run and went on to take the set 25-17.

Notre Dame came out of the 10-minute intermission refocused in the third set and determined to not let the Seminoles take the lead in the match. The set was tight near the midway mark, as the Irish held on to a 14-13 advantage. Notre Dame then broke the set open, winning eight of the next 10 points to build a seven-point lead at 21-14. The Irish closed out the set with a 25-18 victory to pull within one set of winning the match.

The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair, as the frame featured 14 ties and six lead changes. Late in the fourth the score was tied at 21-21 and the Seminoles managed to win the next two points to take a 23-21 lead and pull within two points of forcing a decisive fifth set. The Irish had other ideas, as a Kristin Baer kill followed by an ace from Yeadon and a Florida State ball handling error gave Notre Dame match point at 25-24. The Seminoles fought off the first match point but the Irish responded with back-to-back kills from Nunge and Yeadon to win the set at 26-24 and deliver the match victory by a score of 3-1.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

Yeadon was an attacking menace for Notre Dame, recording a match-high 24 kills. The sophomore sensation has notched 24 kills on three separate occasions this season. The Mercer Island, Washington, native also added 14 digs and two aces. Yeadon has now recorded 15 double-doubles during the 2017 campaign.

ND STATS OF THE MATCH

Two major milestones were reached in Friday’s win. With 35 digs on the evening, DeJarld became just the third player in Notre Dame volleyball program history to reach the 1,500-dig milestone for her career. DeJarld now has 1,525 career digs and trails only Meg Henican (1,783) and Christy Peters (1,640) on the all-time record list.

Sam Fry also recorded a remarkable achievement, reaching the 1,000-kill milestone for her career. The senior finished the night with seven kills, giving her 1,004 over her four years with the Irish. Fry becomes the 22nd player in program history to reach the 1,000-kill plateau and is the ninth player to record both 1,000+ kills and 400+blocks in a career.

NOTES OF THE MATCH

  • Notre Dame improves to 6-3 when playing away from home this season.
  • The Irish totaled 95 digs, marking the third highest output the team has achieved this season.
  • DeJarld surpassed the 30-dig mark for the 3rd time this season, finishing with a team-high 35 digs.
  • Nunge recorded 10+ kills for the sixth time in 2017 with 12 on Friday.
  • Holt has dished out 50+ assists on three occasions this season. Friday’s total of 51 were the most for the senior in a four-set match in 2017.
  • Yeadon has recorded at least 10 kills in all 18 matches she has played in during the 2017 season.
  • Yeadon posted her 15th double-double in 2017 (24 kills, 14 digs).
  • Freshman Madison Cruzado finished in double figures in digs for the first time at Notre Dame with a career-high 12 in the victory.

UP NEXT

Notre Dame heads even further south to play this weekend to take on Miami at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 22.

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Robby Hamman joined Fighting Irish Media as athletics communications assistant director in September 2016, coordinating efforts for the volleyball and men’s lacrosse program. Hamman is a 2010 graduate of Bethel College, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in sport management and business administration and earned his master’s degree in business administration from Defiance College in 2013.