SU Defeats Villanova in Straight Sets

Friday, November 9

Women's Building

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

11-18, 3-10

Villanova

11-18, 5-9

Villanova

Syracuse

Nicolette Serratore had nine kills in the Orange victory over Villanova

11/9/2012 9:13:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Orange volleyball team (11-18, 3-10) swept Villanova (11-18, 5-9) in straight sets (25-19, 25-21, 25-21) on Friday evening in the Women's Building.

The win over the Wildcats snaps a two-game losing streak, as the Orange head into their final match of the season on senior day in the Carrier Dome, slated for Sunday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m.

"When we played them last time we had a lot of errors and this time we had less errors, especially in the first set when we had only two," head coach Leonid Yelin said.

The Orange opened the first set determined to dominate the match from the start, accumulating only two errors. SU matched Villanova point for point in the first nine points. Three straight points by Villanova and two Orange attacking errors halted SU's offensive strike and gave the Wildcats their first lead at 17-15, but a brief timeout re-enforced SU's confidence as the Orange pressured the Wildcats, regaining the lead and ultimately the first set, 25-19.

Syracuse carried the momentum from set one into the next set, gaining a 7-2 lead, powered by a trio of explosive kills by Monika Salkute and Silvi Uattara.

Open pockets in the SU's defense allowed the Wildcats to close the lead within three at 13-10, but attacking errors on both teams, kept the game in close proximity. An offensive push and two service errors gave SU the competitive edge and ultimately the second set, heading into the intermission with a 2-0 advantage.

Villanova capitalized on two service aces to command a 7-5 lead in the third set, halting SU's momentum and narrow lead. Refusing to go down without a fight, the Orange rallied on an offensive push after being down by five. Samantha Clarey led the seven-point offensive strike to bring the final frame within three to give Syracuse their first lead of the frame. A final kill from Clarey and one from senior Samantha Hinz closed out the set and sealed the match for SU with a 25-21 victory.

Uattara and Nicolette Serratore led the offense with nine kills apiece. Monika Salkute and Serratore led the defense with five blocks each, while setters Emily Betteridge and Amanda Kullman combined for 35 assists.

The Wildcat offense was led by Krista Andersen, who had nine kills and one block and Colleen Hickey with six kills and two digs. Brittany Rembert led the defense with one block and seven kills. Setter Allie DiBernardo recorded 33 assists.