Orange Victorious Against Texas Tech, Crowned Big Orange Tournament Champions

Saturday, September 8

Manley Field House

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

Texas Tech

Sophomore Kacie MacTavish (above) was named Big Orange Tournament Most Valuable Player.

Orange Victorious Against Texas Tech, Crowned Big Orange Tournament Champions

9/8/2007 10:25:37 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score

View Photo Gallery

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Sophomore Kacie MacTavish received Most Valuable Player honors and senior Joscie Kaup was named to the all-tournament team following Syracuse’s 3-1 win against Texas Tech and perfect 3-0 record at the 2007 Big Orange Tournament. Senior Cheryl Cobbina led the Syracuse attack with a team-high 22 kills as the Orange improved its record at home to 5-0.

“We’re really growing as a team, right now,” said Cobbina. “After being down in the first game, our team’s maturity really showed and we were able to battle back and win in

the end.”

After head coach Jing Pu celebrated his 250^th career win at Syracuse with a 3-0 sweep against Fordham earlier Saturday, the Orange stormed to an emphatic victory against the Red Raiders. Behind an all-around offensive performance and strong team defense, Syracuse overcame a one-game deficit against Texas Tech to capture the tournament crown.

The Orange offense, running on all cylinders behind a club-best 47 assists from redshirt-junior April Quigley, received 14 kills from MacTavish, 12 from freshman Mindy Stanislovaitis and 10 from junior Brittany Kern.

Defensively, Quigley paced the Orange with a team-high 15 digs while Kaup added 14. Syracuse posted 49 digs as a team and tallied 16 total blocks. Kern was especially impressive on the SU front line after totaling six total blocks.

Despite a Texas Tech 32-30 win in game one, the resilience from the Orange took center stage. After trailing 26-18, Syracuse crawled back to even the score at 30 behind a team-high three kills from MacTavish. Cobbina, Stanilovaitis and freshman Hayley Todd each added two kills as the Orange set the tone for the duration of the match.

“Everybody stepped up and everybody came through tonight. There are so many people that made great plays,” said Kaup. “Just coming back like we did and fighting as hard as we could to take the momentum – it showed a lot as our team pulled together.”

Syracuse evened the match at one game apiece after collecting 22 kills as a team in a 30-25 win in game two. Cobbina paced the Orange attack with eight kills as Quigley collected 14 assists. With the score knotted at 20 and Kaup at the service position, SU won 10 of the next 15 points to put things in a deadlock.

Cobbina and Kern combined to tally 10 kills as the Orange took a one-game advantage with a 30-28 win in game three. Stanislovaitis added four kills and Quigley posted 15 assists.

The fourth and eventual decisive game played back and forth before the Orange secured a two-point lead, 29-27, after Cobbina’s 22^nd and final kill of the match. After Michelle Flores, also named to the all-tournament team, briefly cut the lead in half, MacTavish ended any thoughts of a fifth game with a match-winning kill.

For the fourth time in the Big Orange Tournament’s six-year existence, Syracuse tallied an unbeaten record. Overall, the Orange is 15-3 in the annual event.

Joining MacTavish, Kaup and Flores on the all-tournament were Fordham’s Christie Griffiths and Princeton’s Lindsey Ensign. Texas Tech leaves Syracuse after winning two of three matches. In the night session’s first match, Princeton escaped with a 3-2 win, and 20-18 game five victory, against Fordham.

The Orange will take their season-best four-game win streak on the road to Binghamton Tuesday, September 11 at 7:00 p.m.