Orange Qualifies for BIG EAST Tournament with Sweep of West Virginia

Sunday, November 16

Women's Building

2:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

West Virginia

Seniors Jacki Kliment, Brittany Kern, Emily Kaier, April Quigley and Marissa Kanemura were honored on Senior Day.

Orange Qualifies for BIG EAST Tournament with Sweep of West Virginia

11/16/2008 6:54:57 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Boxscore

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse (17-14, 8-6) volleyball team secured a berth in the 2008 BIG EAST Tournament on Sunday afternoon, sweeping the West Virginia Mountaineers (7-21, 0-14), 3-0, in its regular-season finale at the Women’s Building. Prior to the game Orange celebrated the careers of seniors Emily Kaier, Marissa Kanemura, Brittany Kern, Jacki Kliment and April Quigley in a Senior Day ceremony.

Seven different players registered kills for the Orange attack in its three-match dominance. Junior Sarah Morton powered the SU attack with 13 kills while freshman Noemie Lefebvre was second on the team with eight. Junior Annabelle Pellerin had four kills while Kern, Quigley and junior Kacie MacTavish each had three. Quigley also helped feed the SU offense, dishing out 32 assists.

Kanemura and Lefebvre led the Syracuse defense, each tallying 13 digs. MacTavish was second on the team with 11 digs while Quigley added eight. A force at the net, Morton led the Orange with 10 total blocks including a match-high seven solo stops. Kern and sophomore Hayley Todd both added a pair of solo blocks to the SU defensive effort that had 16 blocks on the day.

Tied with the Mountaineers, 8-8, early in the first set, back-to-back solo blocks by Morton helped spur a 17-7 run by the Orange that put the first set away, 25-15.

The Syracuse offense was equally aggressive in the second stanza, quickly jumping out to a lead it would not relinquish. Pellerin propelled the Orange with four kills, including back-to-back blasts to help put game two away, 25-14.

West Virginia fired back in game three, jumping out to an early 5-1 lead, the Orange fought back to tie the set, 6-6, and would battle back from a deficit on four more occasions. Tied 23-23 late in the game, back-to-back kills by Morton and Lefebvre helped to put the game away, 25-23, and secure a 3-0 match victory for the hosts.

With the win the Orange locked its spot in the BIG EAST Tournament for the second consecutive season with an 8-6 conference record. Syracuse will be the No.6 seed in the tournament and will face off against the No. 3 Louisville Cardinals on Friday, Nov. 21 at 3:30 p.m. at Fitzgerald Field House in Pittsburgh, Pa.