SU Suffers Season-Opening Loss To No. 19 Louisville

Friday, August 30

University Park, Pa.

4:30 p.m.

Syracuse University

0-1, 0-0ACC

Louisville

1-0, 0-0AAC

Louisville

Syracuse

Sophomore Silvi Uattara smacked a team-best eight kills and finished with a hitting percentage of .318.

SU Suffers Season-Opening Loss To No. 19 Louisville

8/30/2013 6:17:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score | Statistics

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Syracuse volleyball team (0-1) was swept in straight sets (20-25, 19-25, 17-25) by the nationally ranked No. 19 Louisville Cardinals (1-0) in the season opener between former BIG EAST foes in the Penn State Invitational at Penn State's Rec Hall on Friday, Aug. 30.

"The score doesn't really reflect the way we are capable of playing," said head coach Leonid Yelin. "Especially since it was the first game, I thought we played really well. Mentally, we have to be stronger. This is a really great tournament and I entered it to find out who can eventually play on a high level."

Sophomore Silvi Uattara led the Orange attack with eight kills, while sophomore Gosia Wlaszczuk chipped in with six kills and four blocks, including one solo block. Another sophomore, Monika Salkute served up three aces and added four total blocks. In her first collegiate game, freshman Erica Handley dished out 13 assists and tacked on three kills and junior Nicolette Serratore finished with a team-high six digs.

The Louisville attack was led by three players with double-digit kills. Graduate student Brooke Mattingly racked up 10 kills and a .412 hitting percentage, while senior Emily Juhl tied for a game-high with 11 kills and a .450 hitting percentage. Freshman Maya McClendon also had 11 kills for the Cardinals. Senior Hannah Kvitle passed out a game-high 21 assists and sophomore Hannah Pouliezos had a game-best 10 digs.

In the first set, the Orange and the Cards battled back and forth with neither team leading by more than one until Louisville grabbed an 11-9 lead on a kill from Mattingly. The point helped kick start a 12-3 run that extended the Cardinals lead to 20-12. Syracuse responded with five of the next six scores to pull within 21-17. However, the two teams exchanged side-outs the rest of the way with Louisville taking the set 25-20.

The Cardinals came out firing in the second set, tallying the first five points and storming out to a 9-3 advantage. Louisville continued to maintain a lead of at least five points and had their largest lead of the set following three straight kills from Mattingly and McClendon for a 22-11 lead. SU rattled off four straight points and scored eight of the next 10 points to close the gap to 24-19 behind the play of Salkute and Wlaszczuk, but a hitting percentage of .133 did the Orange in as redshirt freshman Janelle Jenkins and Kvitle teamed up for a block to end the set at 25-19.

Determined to extend the match, Syracuse jumped out to a 4-3 lead, but five consecutive points put the Cardinals ahead for good. SU kept the set close, staying within four points and climbed within 16-14 after a kill by Wlaszczuk and ace by Salkute. From that point, Louisville scored the next four points and outscored the Orange 9-3 the rest of the way to win the set 25-17 and the match.

The Orange will meet the No. 2 Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 11 a.m. to close out the Penn State Invitational.