4/4: Notre Dame finishes 3rd in MIVAS but falls to 25th at Nationals

Notre Dame played some of its best volleyball of the year in the last two weeks, getting wins over three of this years national final four, Utah Valley State, runner up Lakeland College, and national champion Ohio State. The team used these big wins to take 3rd at MIVAs, falling to Michigan State in the semi finals. At the NCVF national championships though the Irish ended up in Silver after losing a single game tie-breaker rematch to Utah Valley State. The Irish ended up dropping their first match to UC Irvine to finish 25th overall.

3/28: Bauer and Nejedly named First Team All-Midwest 10

Freshmen Outside Hitter Rob Bauer and Senior Middle Mike Nejedly were both named to the All-Midwest 10 First Team for their play during the two conference play days and tournaments.

2/7: Notre Dame finishes 3rd in conference play and tournament

Notre Dame came into the day in 4th place in conference play thanks to a disheartening loss to Marquette in the first play day. After taking care of business against Ball State in their first game of the morning, the Irish faced a tough, VERY experienced, Lakleland College team. The Irish lost in two but got a nice break when Marquette lost to Illinois State, landing the Irish in 3rd place. This put ND up against 6th place Northern Illinois in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. After a sloppy first game, the Irish found themselves needing to win the next two in order to advance. Behind some dirty ups from a freshmen libero from Chi-citys south side the Irish managed to take the next two games and move on to the semis. University of Wisconsin Oshkosh dominated the Irish in the first game, winning 25-16. ND bounced back in the second game and looked to have control, jumping out to an early lead that they rode to 23-20. Oshkosh blocking stepped up though, housing both Healy and Nejedly and eventually pulling out a 25-23 win, leaving the Irish with 3rd place again.

2/7: Notre Dame takes 4 of 6 at first conference playday

The Irish started out the day strong beating University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee handily in two. Notre Dame was able to rotate players through its line up with out missing a beat and dominate the match. The second match of the day was more of a test for the Irish as a strong jump serve from Illinois State slowed the Irish attack. After dropping the first game, the Irish rallied to take the next two and win a very exciting match. The Irish struggled in their 3rd match though. Against Marquette nothing seemed to go right, Notre Dame couldn't get any offense going and they got beaten easily in two. Notre Dame looked much better in its next match but dropped a close two games to University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. The Irish played them tight through both games but in the end Oshkosh was just too much for ND. The Irish finished their day on a high note though, winning their last two matches against Northern Illinois and Iowa State, including a back and forth 35-33 second game victory over NIU.

1/23: Notre Dame wins Battle at the House of Noise in 4

The Irish won their opening match of the semester, beating Michigan State in 4 games saturday night. After getting out to a slow start the Irish ran away with the first game behind the hitting of Rob Bauer. Constantly reminded that "he's only a freshmen" by the self-proclaimed "voice of volleyball" Bauer continued bombing balls all night. The Irish started off slow in each game but picked it up each time. Even in the third game which they dropped they climbed back from a big defecit to have a chance at the sweep.

1/12: House of Noise moved to St. Joseph High School

The 7th annual Battle at the House of Noise between Notre Dame and Michigan State has been moved to St. Joseph High School in St. Joseph, Michigan.

St. Joseph High School
2521 Stadium Dr.
St. Joseph, MI
49085

Doors will open at 6:15 and the game will start at 7:15

12/6: Irish take 3rd at tournament

After splitting into a Navy and Gold squad for its home tournament the Navy squad took third place, finishing 3-1 and falling to Grand Valley State in the semis. The Irish swept their pool but the split squads and lack of subs took its toll in the afternoon as the team played flat and had no energy in its two game loss to Grand Valley.

12/2: Irish to split squad for Home Tournament

Notre Dame will split into a Navy and a Gold squad for its tournament this weekend. The Navy Squad will include the upper classmen (Nejedly, Lewis, Healy, Iandolo and Balastracci) as well as sophomores Josh Rehberg and Tom Johnson. The Gold team, led by sophomore middle Steve Walsh, will feautre all of the freshmen.

11/22: Irish tie for 9th at Hardwood

Continuing last years trend, the Irish struggled early in the morning, losing to Northern Illinois in 3 sets. But they bounced back to beat Michigan State and Michigan in straight sets and win the pool. After a strong performance and a close win in a 3 game crossover match against Cincinnati the Irish finished the day 3 and 1 and took over the second seed in the tournament. On sunday however, a strong combination of the University of Illinois A and B teams overwhelmed the Irish and sent them home after the first round with a share of 9th place.

10/5: Irish to host Invitational

After a number of drop-outs cancelled the Irish Invitational last year Notre Dame is looking to host the tournament again this year. The Invitational will be held on December 5th in the Rolfs athletic center with times to be determined. Teams committed so far include Ball State, Illinois (2 teams), and Wright State.

9/24: Irish look to reload

With only 8 returning players the Irish looked to reload this fall, taking 6 freshmen after a two day try out. With the loss of their nearly 8 foot mammoth right side the Irish were in need of some height and found it with 6'7" right side Paul Jarasek Jr. and 6'5" All-State outside Rob "Jack" Bauer. The Irish also added depth at setter with Mark DeDiana and libero with Owen Skalitzky. Pat Condon and Jim Waclawik round out the freshmen class.