This week, Notre Dame volleyball will finish its 2025 regular season with a trip to Virginia Tech and a home match against Wake Forest.
Virginia Tech is coming off a tough, three-set loss to NC State on Senior Night, only extending the three-game losing streak it’s had since a five-set win over Duke earlier this month. Currently, the Hokies are at the bottom of the ACC, only ranking above Duke, with an 11-18 overall record and 3-15 in the ACC.
The last time the two teams faced off was before fall break, when the Irish won in a hard-fought, four-set battle. It was a slow match to start; however, Notre Dame applied pressure with strong plays from sophomore middle blockers Anna Bjork and Grace Langer, strong kills from sophomore outside hitter Morgan Gaerte and key aces from junior hitter Sydney Helmers. Thanks to errors from the Hokies and defensive effort from freshman libero Maya Evens, the Irish got out to an early lead. Despite Notre Dame’s stronger block, with unforced errors coming from attempted aggressive swings, Virginia Tech took the second set and stopped the Irish momentum. Notre Dame came back strong, going on six and eight point runs that helped it secure the third and fourth sets.
The Hokies have experienced a wild season, scoring over 70 points in some of their matches, while in other they struggle to get above 35. Traditionally, Virginia Tech was low scoring against top programs such as North Carolina, SMU, Pitt and Georgia Tech, which is understandable since the Hokies have struggled to set up a solid offense against teams that are very defensively heavy. Their highest total amount of points scored was against Marshall, when they scored 85 off of 60 kills, also their season high.
Virginia Tech, despite putting up low numbers, is led by junior outside hitter Payton Woods, who has almost 300 kills on the season. Woods is a transfer from Mississippi State, where she barely logged any playing time, appearing in just four sets for the Bulldogs. However, she’s been able to make a name for herself with the Hokies and has discovered a school that harnesses her talent to its advantage. Junior setter Camilla Brandalise helped Woods and many other hitters increase their numbers throughout the season, with 540 assists of her own. Brandalise, who played for Florida Southwestern, was a two-time JUCO national champion, compiling over 800 assists, 150 digs and 50 aces over two seasons.
Defensively, Virginia Tech is led by graduate student libero Erica Fava, who has 206 digs on the year. Prior to becoming a Hokie, Fava played for Omaha for two seasons, where she had the chance to appear in the best-attended volleyball game in history:92,003 against Nebraska in Memorial Stadium. Aside from being a part of history, Fava recorded 24 double-digit dig matches at Omaha and is adding to that statistic during her time at Virginia Tech.
After traveling to Blacksburg, Virginia, to play at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Notre Dame will come home for its senior game against Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons are set to play Duke on Nov. 26. Wake Forest is coming off a four-set loss to Virginia, which broke the Demon Deacons’ three-game win streak. Currently, they are in the middle of the ACC, slightly above the Irish, with an overall record of 14-15 and an ACC record of 8-10.
The last time the two teams faced each other was in early November, which ended in a Notre Dame loss after four sets. Despite Wake Forest finding success in its long runs, it was a record day for Gaerte as she hit a total of 500 kills on her career. Junior setter Lily Fenton also made her first career start and tallied 25 assists, and senior outside hitter Lucy Trump hit a .600, making her the most efficient hitter on the day.
Wake Forest has put together a decent season so far, yet it has faced turmoil in low-scoring affairs against Stanford and Georgia Tech, when the Demon Deacons couldn’t reach 40 points. However, they have found massive success against East Carolina and Syracuse, scoring 81 and 78 points respectively.
Wake Forest is led offensively by senior outside hitter Paige Crawford, who leads the team with 343 kills. Crawford has spent the entirety of her collegiate career as a Demon Deacon and has earned herself many accolades, such as making the Wake Forest All-Tournament team twice and even the ACC All-Freshman team in 2022, all while leading the team in kills and service aces, even though this year she’s fallen to fourth on the team with only 22 aces.
Crawford is as effective as she is because she is led by sophomore setter Becca Bellows, who has 566 assists this year and is coming off a very successful freshman season where she played in 30 of 31 matches for the Deacons. Her spotlight is shared with senior setter Rian Baker, who has 517 assists and has put together a very similar season to her previous ones. Defensively, senior libero Emma Farrell leads the team with 429 digs and has spent all four years at Wake Forest, earning ACC All-Freshman accolades and All-Tournament honors.
Notre Dame will face Wake Forest on Nov. 29, when the Irish will honor its seniors for their last home game in Purcell Pavilion.