Home At Last, ACC Volleyball Continues In Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – This weekend Syracuse comes home after a four-game road trip for its first ACC matches of 2014 in the Women's Building. The Orange (7-9, 0-4 ACC) will look to right the ship against Miami (9-6, 2-2 ACC) on Friday and Pittsburgh (13-2, 1-1 ACC) on Sunday.

Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 PM – Miami (9-6, 2-2 ACC) | Live Stats

The Hurricanes enter Friday's match as a solid all around team that has faced a difficult schedule thus far in 2014. At 2-2 in the ACC, Miami has suffered losses to then No. 5 Florida State and Duke. This week's poll has Florida State as the fourth best team in the nation and Duke ranked at No. 22.

Miami fell in three straight to Duke but forced the Seminoles to five sets only to be edged, 15-9. Savanah Leaf connected on a record breaking 30 kills in the match. The career best total was the most recorded by a Miami student-athlete in an ACC match in program history. Leaf is Miami's biggest threat, as they looked to her 86 for kills.

Leaf leads the conference in kills per set average with 4.47 per set and has 237 on the season. Emani Sims is the team's most efficient hitter as she connects on 42% of her attempts, ranking her second in the conference. Feeding the two is the third best setter in the conference, Haley Templeton as she averages 10.57 assists per set. Defensively, Sim's also leads Miami in blocks per set, ranking ninth in the conference with 1.15 per set.

Overall, the Hurricanes are a well-rounded squad. The 'Canes are sixth as a team in hitting percentage, assists per set, blocks per set, service aces per set and digs per set. Overall kills, Miami is seated eighth in the ACC while they hold opponents to a ninth best, .196 hitting percentage.

Sunday, Oct. 12 at 1 PM – Pittsburgh (13-2, 1-1 ACC) | Live Stats | Watch Live

Unranked, yet, perhaps the hottest team in the ACC right now, Pittsburgh enters this weekend with one objective. After its five-set loss to No. 12 North Carolina the Panthers hope to get back to the win column and prove to its doubters that Pittsburgh belongs in the AVCA Top-25 with Florida State, North Carolina and Duke.

Pitt ranks in the top five in every category in the ACC. It owns the second best hitting percentage (.267), the best opponent hitting percentage (.135), leads the conference in assists (13.98) and kills per set (14.72) and is fifth in blocks (2.56), third in aces (1.64) and third in digs per set (15.10).

The Panthers have the three of the most efficient hitters in the country at their service. Amanda Orchard leads the ACC in hitting percentage, connecting on 46% of her attacks this season. Jenna Potts is seventh in the conference, swinging .365 this season. Jessica Wynn is sixth in total kills with 176, averaging 3.67 per set.

Serving for Pitt are Delaney Clesen and Lindsey Zitke who are both lethal from beyond the endline. Clesen averages .40 aces per set to rank fifth in the ACC while Zitke is averaging .36 per set for an eighth place seat in the conference.

On defense, Potts has moved her way up the list to lead the ACC, averaging 1.56 blocks per set. Clesen is second in the conference in digs per set with 4.66 per frame.

Pittsburgh is 13-2 on the season despite coming off a loss to No. 12 North Carolina. Prior to the loss against No. 12 North Carolina, the team had won eight games in a row, six of which were decided in three sets. Pittsburgh is 1-1 in ACC play with a win over Boston College.

Pitt's sole five-set match of the year was its loss to No. 12 North Carolina. Kate Yeazel led the way for Pittsburgh in the match with a season-high 13 kills. Zitzke recorded her first service ace of the match early on to earn program's all-time record with 154. Wynn tallied her 1,000th career kill in the third set and finished with 11, the next highest behind Yeazel.

SU Notes

Syracuse continues to be one of the best blocking teams in the country. The Orange ranks eighth in total blocks with 181 and is 11^th in blocks per set with 3.02.

The blocking is led by SU's all-time leader in block assists, Lindsay McCabe and freshman, Leah Levert. McCabe is fourth in the conference in blocks per set, averaging 1.4 with Levert not far behind in seventh with a 1.29 average. McCabe's 84 total blocks is the second most in the ACC. Clemson's Karis Watson leads the conference with 87.

With 14 points in the match and 13 kills against Boston College Sunday, Valeriya Shaipova is beginning to regain her 2013 form before her season was cut short to a season ending injury. Shaipova's double-digit scoring effort was her first of 2014 and it was the first time this season she recorded double-digit points.

Lucie Guttakovskaia appears to be the next freshman to step up for the Orange after its match against BC. She hit .500 on the day and recorded 4.5 points to go along with 17 assists in less than two full sets of action.

Levert is becoming a more complete player as the season progresses. A known threat on the block, Levert has been making strides in her attack and it paid off on Sunday against the Eagles. She hit .750 and recorded 5.5 points and was in on five blocks.

Two of SU's top players broke out against Notre Dame this past weekend as well. Stacey Smith seemed to come up with a kill when SU needed it most and finished the day with five while Gosia Wlaszczuk had her best game of the season. The setter was credited with 10 kills and 30 assists for her fourth double-double of the season and her first match in which she tallied double-digit kills.

On Sunday afternoon, McCabe was crowned as Syracuse University's all-time leader in block assists with 461 in her career. Her 73 solos have her tied for sixth on the all-time list and she is nearing second place in total blocks. The redshirt senior has 534 career total blocks and needs 588 to take second.