SU Sweeps Pair Of Matches

Friday, September 13

Syracuse, N.Y.

12 p.m.

Syracuse University

2-5

Saint Peter's

1-8

Saint Peter's

Syracuse

In two matches, sophomore Gosia Wlaszczuk recorded a .533 hitting percentage (nine kills, one error) with 16 digs, five blocks and five assists.

9/13/2013 1:59:00 PM | Volleyball

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse opened play in the Candlewood Suites Challenge by cruising to a pair of straight set victories over Saint Peter's and Delaware State at the Women's Building on Friday, Sept. 13.

"I was waiting for when we were going to play against a team we have to beat," said head coach Leonid Yelin. "We have to find a way to play against a team we absolutely have to beat. I knew we were going to beat them, but I didn't know we were going to beat them in this kind of manner. So hopefully we're going to build something off it."

In the first ever meeting between Syracuse (3-5) and St. Peter's (1-9), the Orange controlled the tempo from the opening serve, taking the match against the Peacocks 25-5, 25-12, 25-21.

SU was led by sophomore Gosia Wlaszczuk, who finished with a career-best .750 hitting percentage on six kills. She also added a team-high 10 digs and had four total blocks, including one solo. Sophomore outside hitter Silvi Uattara notched a team-high 14 kills and freshman setter Erica Handley passed out 28 assists.

Leading 9-0 in the first set, Uattara tallied the next three kills for SU to put the Orange up 12-2. Syracuse went on to score 10 straight for a 21-2 lead, highlighted by five aces from Uattara. SU closed out the set with an ace from Wlaszczuk. Syracuse finished the set with a hitting percentage of .529 with nine kills on 17 attempts and no errors while holding the Peacocks to just -.053.

After Saint Peter's scored the first two points of the second set, the Orange responded with the next seven points and 11 of the next 12 for an 11-3 lead. Leading 19-11, SU notched six of the final seven points to take set two.

The final set went down to the wire with SU facing their biggest deficit of the day at 20-16, but the Orange proved to be too tough, scoring the next eight points and getting a kill from Uattara to claim victory for the set and match.

In the nightcap, Syracuse put together two more sets with a hitting percentage of .500 or better which led to a season-best .435 clip, while holding Delaware State to just .025 for the entire match (25-12, 25-13, 25-12).

Once again, the Orange was paced by Uattara and her 11 kills, which produced a season best .429 hitting percentage. Handley dished out 28 assists for the second match in a row, while adding a season-high five kills, four digs and three block assists.

Defensively, SU was led by Nicolette Serratore's eight digs and Lindsay McCabe's four blocks.

Syracuse led from end-to-end in taking the first two sets. With a 17-10 lead in the first frame, SU rattled off four straight points to extend their lead to 21-10, then scored four of the final five points to round out the set with a .526 hitting percentage. In the second set, the Orange held a slim 8-7 advantage before going on a 10-1 run to go up 18-8. SU tallied seven of the final nine points in the set, capped by an ace from Handley to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Orange found themselves trailing for the first time in the match when the Hornets took leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but SU responded with a 14-4 run for a 15-6 lead. Syracuse continued their impressive hitting for the rest of the match, scoring 10 of the last 13 points for a third set attack percentage of an even .500.

The Candlewood Suites Challenge continues on Saturday, Sept. 14 for SU at 11:30 a.m. against Chicago State.