12/1: Irish fall to Hoosiers in finals, take second place at Irish Invitational
The 2007-2008 Irish Volleyball team played their first tournament of the year, hosting 7 teams in the Irish Invitational at Rolfs Athletic Center. The Irish defeated Grand Valley-B, Michigan State-B, and Indiana University in pool play to take the top seed into the playoffs. After defeating Ball State in the semi-finals, the Irish fell in 3 games to the same IU squad they had defeated earlier in the day. The Irish, with 5 of 7 new starters, will look to build on their 4-1 record on the day when they return from Winter Break to play MSU in the 5th annual Battle at the House of Noise on January 26th!
11/18: Irish go 3-1, split with Grand Valley-A
The Irish scrimmaged Grand Valley State's A and B teams on Sunday, playing each team twice and finishing with a 3-1 record. The Irish knocked off GVSU-B in straight sets to open the day, and the momentum carried them into their first matchup with the powerful GVSU-A team, where the Irish won a decisive 2 game victory. After a short break, the young Irish returned to the floor, again knocking off the GVSU-B team by holding off a late rally in the second game. In a 5-game thriller, Grand Valley got their revenge, taking the first, second and fifth games of the match, winning the 5th 17-15.
11/9: Air Force knocks off the Fighting Irish in 4 games
The Notre Dame Mens Volleyball team opened their season Friday evening with an exhibition match against the Air Force Academy Falcons, and were defeated in 4 games, 25-21, 24-26, 21-25, 18-25. The Irish opened with a first game victory, capitalizing on a Falcon team that struggled out of the gate. The Irish failed to convert a game point in the second game, allowing Air Force to knot the score at 24, and ultimatly lose 26-24. With the momentum gone, the young Irish struggled to keep pace in the third and deciding fourth game.
4/13-4/15, 2007: Irish End Season in Louisville in repeat of 2005
The sixth ranked Notre Dame's men's volleyball team ventured to Louisville, Kentucky this past week for the club volleyball national championships. The top 96 Division 1 teams in the country competed. With their highest final ranking in the club's history, the Irish had high expectations to make a deep run in this year's tournament.
The Irish opened their first day and pool play against the Naval Academy. Despite having a top notch defense, the high-powered offense of Notre Dame proved to be too much for Navy as outside hitter Drew Williams seemingly got kills at will. The match was over soon after it began, as Notre Dame won in convincing fashion, 25-21 and 25-20.
For their second match the Irish were paired against Dayton University and featured a battle between brothers, Notre Dame's John and Dayton's Jim Tibble. Behind inspired defensive play of John Tibble, Notre Dame was able to divide a household and defeat Dayton in straight sets, 25-23 and 25-21.
In their final match of their day, Notre Dame was looking to lock up a first place finish in their pool and continue onto the next stage of the tournament undefeated. In order to do this, the Irish had to beat New England powerhouse, Northeastern University. Not knowing what to expect from the Huskies, the Irish made it a point to come out with intensity. The match was always in the control of the Irish as setter Nolan Kane kept the opposing defense guessing. Notre Dame put the Huskies down in straight sets, 26-24 and 25-18.
Moving into the second day with an unblemished record, Notre Dame found themselves needing to win one of their two matches to move into the final sixteen of the tournament. With the Irish in the pool were archrivals Michigan State and Boston College. First up for the Irish was Boston College. This was the first meeting between the two traditional rivals. Through most of the first set, the teams traded sideouts and neither team had a clear advantage. Middle blocker James Foresman stepped up to sway the game in favor of the Irish, who took it 25-23. The momentum of the win carried on into the second game, as the Irish controlled the game in its entirety. With the match won, Notre Dame had secured its spot in the gold bracket and had to play the match against Michigan State for an opportunity to move up in its seeding. At first, the Irish struggled to get their balls around the large Spartan block and fell to an early deficit. Late in the game, Notre Dame rallied and made a comeback; however, it was too late for the game to slip from the Spartan grasp. Michigan State took the first game 23-25, but the Irish had gained momentum. In a tight, back-and-forth battle, the Irish were unable to develop a commanding lead. The teams pushed the game into extra points and Mike Nejedly substituted in to serve. With the score being 27-26 and the Irish having game point, Nejedly sped a jump serve over the net and in the court, untouched by an opponent to win the game. With the match going to a third set, the Irish stepped up their game accordingly, exploding to an early lead. The lead held as the Irish took the game and match, 15-12.
Still boasting a perfect record going into the final day, the Irish were fighting for a spot in the quarterfinals against a strong Santa Clara team. Santa Clara jumped out to an insurmountable early lead behind impenetrable defense and strong blocking. This lead held for the game's entirety as the Broncos won, 17-25. With their backs against the wall, Notre Dame had to fight in the second game. As the Irish's intensity grew, so did their lead that they held for most of the game. Behind the outside hitting of Dan Zibton, who was later named as Honorable Mention to the All-America team, the Irish were able to send the match to a third set with a score of 25-21. The intensity carried over to the final set as the Irish built a quick 3-0 lead. Following some back and forth play, Santa Clara brought the game back into their reach by tying it at 10-10. Next, back-to-back blocks by the Santa Clara right side shifted the momentum and led to a disappointing Irish loss, 11-15. With the loss, Notre Dame finished ninth in the nationals. Two Irish league rivals, Wisconsin Oshkosh and Lakeland, battled in the championship game, with Oshkosh claiming the title.