Blue and Gold Illustrated

ND SPORTS No. 5 nationally, returns home to host No. 9 Clemson Sept. 12 and No. 10 Xavier Sept. 15, before heading out for road contests at No. 4 North Carolina Sept. 18 and at No. 22 Michigan State Sept. 22. ✦ CROSS COUNTRY The ACC released its preseason coaches poll Sept. 2, and the Irish women were picked to win the league. Notre Dame returns senior All-Amer- ican Molly Seidel and four additional finishers from last year's 29th-place NCAA Championships team, and added the country's top distance run- ning freshman class according to FloTrack and MileSplit.com. Meanwhile, the Irish men were picked to finish eighth in the 15-team ACC. Senior Michael Clev- enger returns after qualifying as an individual for the NCAA Championships last season. The two teams opened their season with the Crusader Invitational at Valparaiso University Sept. 4. GOLF Junior Matthew Rushton led the Irish to a second-place tie at the 2015 Kickoff Challenge Aug. 30 at Notre Dame's Warren Golf Course. "I'm really proud of Matt for earning his first collegiate win," head coach Jim Kubinski told UND.com. "He has dedicated himself to becom- ing a top player and a leader. I'm very pleased with the strides he has made in terms of manag- ing his emotions, enabling him to keep his poise and execute shots." Rushton finished with back-to-back rounds of 68 to finish with a 6-under-par score of 136. As a team, the Irish (287-292—579) tied with IUPUI (286-293—579) for second, with Toledo (282- 285-567) taking the team title. The women's team opens their season over the Sept. 12 weekend in the Mary Fossum Invita- tional, located at Forest Akers West Golf Course in East Lansing, Mich. WOMEN'S SOCCER (4-0) The No. 6 Irish opened their season on a four- game winning streak, starting with a 6-0 win over Valparaiso Aug. 21, followed by a 3-0 win over To- ledo Aug. 23, a 2-1 win over Santa Clara Aug. 29 and a 2-0 win over Portland Aug. 30. As of Sept. 3, freshman forward Natalie Jacobs led the team with four assists, while five team members were tied for the team lead in goals with two each. Sophomore goalkeeper Lexi Nich- ols had played 324 minutes and only allowed one goal. VOLLEYBALL (1-2) Notre Dame opened its season at the Blue Raider Bash in Murfreesboro, Tenn., and fell 3-1 to Bowling Green and 3-2 to Cleveland State Aug. 29 before earning Jim McLaughlin his first win as the Irish head coach in a 3-1 win over host Middle Tennessee State Aug. 30. "We got our first win, which is big emotion- ally, but we can play a lot better and I think the team understands that," McLaughlin told UND. com. "We aren't jumping up and down because we won because we have got to play better ball. But I'm proud of them in how they handled it. They battled hard, and that's the most important thing." Freshman Meg Morningstar picked up 10 kills and five blocks, hitting .474 to help lead the Irish in their first victory. Junior co-captain Katie Higgins was named to the all-tournament team, posting 43 kills, 11 blocks and six service aces — all team highs — over the three-game stretch. — Jordan Wells Irish Roundup

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