SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish fell in a tough five-set battle to the No. 19 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at home on Friday night (25-22, 21-25, 25-20, 17-25, 13-15).

Morgan Gaerte finished with a career-high 18 kills, followed by Sydney Palazzolo with 15 kills and 14 digs. Lucy Trump, Anna Bjork, and Phyona Schrader each tallied eight kills a piece and Grace Langer finished with a team-best five blocks.

The Irish had their strongest offensive production in set one to start things off, hitting .333 and recording 17 kills as a team led Notre Dame to a 25-22 win in the first set. Tied at 18-all, the Irish would take a 22-18 advantage to force a Yellow Jacket timeout. Georgia Tech responded with a 3-0 run to force a Notre Dame timeout in return, but kills from Schrader and Trump coupled with a block from the freshman duo of Gaerte and Bjork secured the win.

It was back and forth between the Irish and Yellow Jackets in set two as there were nine ties and three lead changes. With Georgia Tech in front 18-17, the Irish were working to close the gap, but the Yellow Jackets would even the playing field at 1-1 as they took the second set 25-21.

Notre Dame recorded another strong offensive set in the third, tallying another 16 kills as a team and hitting at a clip of .325. Posting a lead of 17-10, the Irish forced a Georgia Tech timeout, but the Yellow Jackets responded as they closed the gap to three at 20-17 and forced an Irish timeout in return. Gaetre sent home another kill to seal the deal on set three as Notre Dame took a 2-1 advantage by winning the third 25-20.

It was another close start in the fourth as the Yellow Jackets led by just one at 10-9 before going on a 6-0 run to extend their lead 16-9. The Irish closed the gap to three at 17-14, but Georgia Tech would close it out with an 8-3 run to take it to a fifth set.

With Georgia Tech up 7-5 in the final set, the Irish called a timeout and responded with a 5-1 run to take the lead 10-8 and force the Yellow Jacket timeout. With Notre Dame leading 12-9, the Yellow Jackets strung together four straight points to make it 13-12 as the Irish called their second timeout. A kill from Trump tied it up at 13-all, but the ranked Georgia Tech squad would score the final two points to take the last set 15-13.

The Irish are back in action on Sunday as they host the Clemson Tigers at 1:00 pm at Purcell Pavilion.

Former president Trump put aside his differences Friday with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, meeting Kemp in the hurricane-ravaged community of Evans, Ga, for their first joint appearance since Kemp refused to help Trump overturn his 2020 election loss.

After shaking hands at a press briefing, Trump praised Kemp. “Your governor’s doing a fantastic job,” Trump said.

It was a significant public turnaround, one calibrated to bring Georgia Republicans together ahead of a tight Nov. 5. election.

Over the last four years, Trump has repeatedly tried to undermine Kemp, blaming the Georgia GOP leader for not doing enough to overturn his 2020 loss and endorsing a rival gubernatorial candidate in 2022. Just months ago, he insulted Kemp as a “bad guy.”

But getting conservatives to the polls and wooing undecided voters is key for Republicans in this Southern battleground state.

Biden won Georgia in 2020 by fewer than 12,000 votes and polling averages compiled by FiveThirtyEight.com show Trump ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris in Georgia by just 1.3 percentage points, within the margin of error.

With Trump and Harris neck and neck, the two men presented a united front.

“It is my honor, and I want to thank President Trump for coming back to our state again for the second time to … keep a national focus on our state as we recover,” Kemp said after the two GOP leaders attended a briefing on hurricane damage in Evans, a conservative suburb of Augusta that suffered severe storm damage.

Asked about his relationship with the governor, Trump said: “We’ve always worked together very well.”

Georgia political observers stress that it would be unwise for Trump to make an enemy of Kemp, Georgia’s most popular and powerful elected official.

“The joint appearance might calm some Republicans upset about the attacks on Kemp,” said GOP strategist Brian Robinson, a former communications director for former Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal. “It doesn’t add votes really, but it’s important for Trump to keep Kemp on the team rowing in the same direction. Kemp would never be publicly opposed, but it would be harmful if he was.”

Earlier this week, Kemp did not join Trump when the former president traveled to Valdosta, Ga., to survey the damage from Hurricane Helene.

At a rally this week, Trump criticized Biden for “sleeping” after the hurricane brought torrential rain to the region and falsely claimed that Kemp could not reach Biden for federal assistance — a claim that Kemp later disputed.

Speaking at an August Atlanta rally, Trump shocked many Georgia conservatives when he rebuked Kemp as “little Brian.” He said that under Kemp’s leadership and the state had “gone to hell” and Atlanta was “a killing field.” He also accused of Kemp’s wife, Marty, who months earlier told a reporter she planned to write in Kemp’s name for president, of disloyalty.

“Leave my family out of it,” Kemp retorted on X. “My focus is on winning this November and saving our country from Kamala Harris and the Democrats – not engaging in petty personal insults, attacking fellow Republicans, or dwelling on the past.”

Many Georgia Republicans united against Trump in support of Kemp — a popular GOP player across the state who crushed a Trump-endorsed challenger in the 2022 GOP primary before winning against Democrat Stacey Abrams.

Still, Kemp refused to get sucked into the drama, insisting he would use his robust political machine this fall to boost Trump’s 2024 bid for the White House.

“This is still a state we can win if we have all the mechanics and the things you need to do to win an election,” Kemp said in August. “We’ve raised enough money and we have good candidates.

Just before Harris accepted the nomination at the Democratic National Convention, Trump made overtures to Kemp via the social platform X, thanking him for his “help and support in Georgia, where a win is so important.”

“I look forward to working with you, your team, and all of my friends in Georgia to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

And last week he extended that overture, calling Kemp “fantastic” at a visit in Savannah before the hurricane hit.

Still, Trump’s praise for Kemp may not last long. Trump has been indicted in Georgia — an 98-page indictment by Fulton County Dist. Atty. Fani Willis
claims the former president “unlawfully conspired” to change the election outcome — and Kemp could serve as a possible trial witness against Trump.

TOOMBS COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) – Georgia’s Lt. Governor Burt Jones visited some of Helene’s hardest hit areas Thursday, including Montgomery and Toombs Counties.

One of Lt. Governor Jones’ stops included the Vidalia-Toombs EMA building where city and county leaders, including first responders, gave their “day seven” updates following Helene’s impact last week.

The Lt. Governor says he wanted to see how his office can help, as well as bring awareness to storm victims’ needs.

“We want to have every ability, it doesn’t matter if it’s like I said a local city system, county system, power companies, hospitals, whatever it might be, individual citizens or businesses, we want everybody to know that we are here to take your calls and provide whatever services that we need to do to accomplish our end goals,” said Lt. Governor Jones.

Lt. Governor Jones says he wants people to know his office has an open line of communication for those in need.

After power in the area is restored and all the necessary repairs are made, the Lt. Governor’s office will then determine how many state dollars will be allocated to the rebuilding process.

Montgomery County also suffered devastating damages after Helene made landfall a week ago.

To show their support, Lt. Governor Jones, alongside State Senator Blake Tillery, visited Montgomery County High School Thursday where volunteers have been passing out supplies to those in need.

Downed power lines, destroyed homes and trees ripped from the ground are just some of the reminders that Helene left for people in Montgomery County.

The storm damage prompting state officials to respond.

“Here in Montgomery County, it’s a lot like the other counties we’ve seen,” said Lt. Governor Jones. “It’s significant, the damage is significant, and it’s going to take resources.”

Resources that will help repair some of what was lost in the storm.

In the meantime, locals are doing what they can to support their own. Volunteers have been stationed at Montgomery County High School for nearly a week passing out food, water and other supplies to people in dire need.

The county’s school superintendent says they’re trying to help in every little way they can.

“We are eagles, so we were built to soar above the storm. Keep your head high. We’re not going to clean this up in a day,” said Rhonda Hightower. “When we get back to school, it’s going to be a slow start getting folks back to school. But we are going to get people back as quick as we can.”

These efforts are only the beginning of Montgomery’s long road to recovery, and people are hoping more help is on the way.

“This is something we’ve never been through in our lives. Just keep us in y’all’s prayers, please,” Judy Quarterman, volunteer and Montgomery County resident.

Copyright 2024 WTOC. All rights reserved.