Volleyball Wins Second-Straight, Defeats West Virginia

Friday, October 20

Syracuse, N.Y. (Women's Building)

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

West Virginia

Junior Joscie Kaup moved into second place in school history with 1,485 career digs.

Volleyball Wins Second-Straight, Defeats West Virginia

10/20/2006 10:11:37 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange won its second-straight contest, defeating West Virginia 3-1 (30-26, 30-22, 32-34, 30-21). The Orange improved to 9-18 and 3-5 in BIG EAST play.

“We knew that we needed to at least split this weekend and now that we have done that, if we beat Pittsburgh it would make things a little easier (to qualify for the BIG EAST Championship),” said assistant coach Carol Munger. “It is still going to be a tough road and we still have matches that we need to win.”

Junior Joscie Kaup led the team with 27 digs and raised her career total to 1,485, passing Andrea Carson for second in school history. Carson posted 1,460 digs from 1989 to 1992. Kaup now trails only Rachel Watson, who posted 1,791 digs from 1996 to 1999.

“Joscie is our constant player,” Munger said. “You don’t really worry about Joscie being on the court and if she is going to do her job. You know she is going to do her job and you can rely on her. It is no surprise to me that she is gaining on the record.”

Junior Kacie MacTavish set career highs with 23 kills and 20 digs while junior Cheryl Cobbina recorded 22 kills and 14 digs. Sophomores Emily Kaier and Brittany Kern each added 11 kills. Sophomore April Quigley posted a match-high 49 assists while only playing in three games.

“Kacie continues to pick up her level in the front row and back row,” Munger said. “She started off a little behind the rest of the girls because she missed those two tournaments. Game time on the court is real important as a freshman because you just experience the high level of play. I think that now she is starting to pick up to the level we knew she could play when we recruited her.”

The Orange recorded 15 service aces in the match, one shy of the school record set against Buffalo in 2003. Freshman Cindy Hand led the charge for the Orange. She tied a school record with six aces in a four-game match. Current graduate assistant Kelly Duan recorded six aces against the Bulls in 2003. Cobbina registered a career-best four aces.

Leading 15-14 in the first game, the Orange scored five-straight points to take a six-point advantage. Syracuse was able to hold on and win the game 30-26. The Orange used two runs of at least four points to secure the second game of the match and take a 2-0 advantage.

The third game was closely contested throughout. Both teams had chances to win the game before West Virginia (2-22, 1-7 BIG EAST) scored the game’s final three points to win. Trailing 13-11 in the fourth game, Syracuse scored seven-straight points and never looked back en route to the nine-point victory. The win was SU’s sixth in eight games.

The Orange hosts BIG EAST rival Pittsburgh on Sunday at the women’s building. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m.