Yelin Wins 500th In Orange Triumph

Sunday, October 20

Pittsburgh, PA

2 p.m.

Syracuse University

8-12, 3-5ACC

Pittsburgh

12-9, 4-4ACC

Syracuse

Pitt

Women's volleyball head coach Leonid Yelin became the 32nd active coach to reach 500 career wins

10/20/2013 5:25:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score | Season Statistics

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Syracuse women's volleyball team defeated Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Pittsburgh in four sets, giving head coach Leonid Yelin his 500th career victory on Sunday, Oct. 20 at Pitt's Fitzgerald Field House.

SU (8-12, 3-5 ACC) rallied from eight points down to win the third set and held off set point for the Panthers (12-9, 4-4 ACC) in the fourth to claim the victory (25-17. 22-25, 27-25, 27-25). The Orange have now won three of their past four matches overall, all coming on the road. Against Pitt, Syracuse is 6-3 in the last nine meetings, including victories in the last two at Fitzgerald Field House.

"It's a tough two wins. It wasn't easy," said Yelin about the weekend. "It was a true team effort. We fought, we came back and never gave up."

Sophomore Silvi Uattara posted her third consecutive double-double, matching season highs of 18 kills and 12 digs while adding a team-high three service aces. Redshirt junior Lindsay McCabe led the club with a .417 hitting percentage on eight kills and five total blocks (two solo). McCabe now has 322 career block assists, which ranks sixth in program history.

Sophomore Monika Salkute finished with a match- and season-high eight blocks assists and junior Melina Violas recorded a match-best 13 digs to lead the SU defense for the fifth straight outing. Freshman Erica Handley's 38 assists was also a match-high.

Trailing 6-3 in the opening set, Syracuse outscored Pitt 14-3 for a commanding 17-9 lead, helped by runs a pair of 4-0 runs and one of 6-0. Pitt pulled within 22-16, but couldn't' overcome SU's .464 hitting percentage in the set as the Orange recorded three of the final four points to take the set.

Both teams traded the lead back and forth to begin the second set, with Pittsburgh finally grabbing a 7-6 advantage they would not relinquish. Syracuse was able to knot the score three more times after that, with the last coming at 10-10. At that point Pitt went on a 7-1 that gave the home team a 17-11 edge. The Panthers extended their lead to 22-15 before two kills and two blocks from Uattara closed the gap to 23-21. After a pair of sideouts, Jessica Wynn smacked a kill to even the match for Pitt.

Pittsburgh looked to be in control of the third set, turning a 10-10 tie into an 18-10 lead after eight consecutive points, behind three kills from Mechael Guess. The Panthers maintained the eight point margin at 22-14 when Syracuse began to climb back. Three blocks by McCabe pulled SU within 22-18 and sparked a 13-3 run to give the Orange the third set. Syracuse encountered set point twice down the stretch, 24-21 and 25-24, but responded with three point runs each time with the last capped by a pair of Monika Salkute blocks to win the set.

With his club's back against the walls in the third set, Yelin said, "I hope it's a learning experience that it's never done until it's done. Our players stormed back. We regrouped and pulled out the win."

Facing a 3-1 deficit at the start of the fourth, Syracuse used another large run, this time 15-4 to net a 16-7 lead. Pittsburgh answered back with an 11-2 run to tie the score at 18-18 and regained the lead moments later at 20-19. SU took the lead right back and held match point at 24-23, but the Panthers scored the next two points and looked to send the match into a fifth set. Following a kill from Uattara and an attack error by the Panthers, Handley served up her team-leading 18th ace of the season to seal the victory for the Orange.

Syracuse more than doubled Pitt in team blocks (15.0-7.0) and outhit the Panthers .313 to .191.

Guess led all Panthers with 15 kills while Wynn compiled 14 kills and nine digs with a .333 attack percentage.

The Orange return to Syracuse for matches with Georgia Tech on Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. and Clemson on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. The contest against the Yellow Jackets will be Syracuse's third match inside the Carrier Dome this season.