Notre Dame roundup: Fighting Irish volleyball sweeps Illinois
Notre Dame women’s volleyball won its home opener 3-0 over Illinois in the Irish Invitational on Thursday at Purcell Pavilion, bouncing back from a 3-2 loss to Santa Clara on Saturday.
The Fighting Irish moved to 3-2 this season, hoping to bounce back from a 10-18 2022 campaign.
Junior outside hitter Sydney Palazzolo led the Irish with 15 kills in the matchup, while freshman outside hitter Ava Lange was right behind her with 12. Palazzolo is the runaway team leader in kills so far this season with 89, as Lange is the next-closest with 41.
Notre Dame didn’t run Illinois off the floor, as the Fighting Illini made each set relatively close — 25-21, 25-19 and 25-22 — but the Irish came away with a convincing win over a major-conference foe.
Second-year head volleyball coach Salima Rockwell‘s group faces Oklahoma at 2:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday in the ultimate match of the Irish Invitational. The Sooners come in at 4-1, but they’ll play Illinois at 6:00 p.m. Eastern on Friday at Purcell.
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Dowd leads men’s soccer to third-straight clean sheet
No. 20 (per the United Soccer Coaches poll) Notre Dame men’s soccer senior goalkeeper Bryan Dowd, also a punter on the Fighting Irish football team, helped shut out IUPUI, Northern Illinois and finally Detroit Mercy on Tuesday at Alumni Stadium in South Bend. The Irish improved to 3-0-1.
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Dowd made a combined four saves throughout the three clean sheets, getting help from 90-minute defenders Mitch Ferguson (So.), Kyle Genenbacher (Jr.) and Josh Ramsey (Jr.). Junior forward Matthew Roou scored the lone Irish goal, his team-leading fifth of the season in the 17th minute. Roou’s goal brought his point total, which also leads Notre Dame, to 11.
The Irish will look to stay undefeated when they host Clemson at 7:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.
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Notre Dame women’s soccer drops close game to Michigan
In its “Irish Wear Green” game Thursday night, Notre Dame women’s soccer lost to Michigan 1-0. The Irish dropped their first game of the season, but they still hold a positive record at 3-1-2.
Michigan goalkeeper Stephanie Sparkowski made seven saves to keep Notre Dame off the scoreboard, including three off the foot of Irish freshman midfielder Morgan Roy. Wolverines forward Gabrielle Prych scored the eventual game-winning goal against senior Notre Dame goalkeeper Ashley Naylor in the 57th minute.
Notre Dame is back in action at 1:00 p.m. ET Sunday, when the Irish will visit Bowling Green.
