SU Knocked Out of BIG EAST Tournament

Friday, November 18

Milwaukee, Wis.

11 a.m.

Syracuse University

19-12

Notre Dame

16-11

Notre Dame

Syracuse University

Noemie Lefebvre had eight kills vs. Notre Dame

11/18/2011 2:09:23 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score | Final Season Stats

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – No. 4 Syracuse (19-12, 8-6) was eliminated by No. 5 Notre Dame (16-11, 8-6) in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Volleyball Tournament, 3-1 (25-27, 17-25, 25-21, 19-25) on Friday morning at the Al McGuire Center on the campus of Marquette University.

The Orange finished the 2011 campaign one win shy of its third-straight 20 win season and had its highest BIG EAST finish since 2005.

Neither team separated from each other in the first set as the frame featured 12 ties. Notre Dame took its largest lead of the set at 20-17, but Lindsay McCabe brought SU back even with a block and kill to jumpstart a 4-1 run for the Orange.

With the set square at 25, a Fighting Irish block followed a kill from Hilary Eppink and gave the Irish a 1-0 advantage. McCabe had four kills in the set.

SU found itself in a 5-0 hole to begin the second set and could not recover as the Orange went into the locker room down two sets to none. The Fighting Irish lead would grow to as large as nine in the frame at 23-14 and Notre Dame won the set 25-17 while hitting a combined .409. McCabe once again led the SU offense with four kills.

The Orange would not go easily though as SU rallied to win the third set 25-20. Syracuse opened the frame by taking the first four points and stretched its largest lead to six at 9-3. From there, the Orange kept the Irish at a distance for the entire set to cut the Irish advantage in half. Noemie Lefebvre had three of her eight kills in the third set.

Syracuse took its first lead of the fourth stanza at 9-8, but a 4-0 Notre Dame run followed and gave the Irish a lead it would not relinquish. Notre Dame wrapped up the fourth set with a 25-19 victory and advanced to semifinals.

McCabe had a team-high 13 kills while Nicolette Serratore chipped in with 11. Ashley Williams tallied 20 digs in the final match of her career.

"We knew that was going to be a battle." Interim head coach Kelly Morrisroe said. "We had a tough second set, but I am proud of how they fought back in the third set. It says a lot about their character. It's always hard to end the season though."