Round Two Of ACC Opponents Next On The Docket

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – After falling to NC State and then No. 12 North Carolina last weekend, Syracuse will look to rebound as they take on Notre Dame and Boston College in its second weekend of ACC competition.

Friday, Oct. 3 at 7 PM – Notre Dame (3-10, 0-2 ACC) | Live Stats | Watch Live

Notre Dame presents an interesting challenge for the Orange on Friday night. The Fighting Irish is 3-10 overall and 0-2 in the ACC this season. At a glance Notre Dame has had a tough season, however four of the team's 10 losses were to teams ranked in the top 12, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Purdue and Florida State. In those four games, the Fighting Irish has been swept in three sets, but it has played relatively well in those contests.

In its last game Notre Dame fell to then No. 6 Florida State but managed a .248 hitting percentage against the Seminoles with five players hitting above .300 and three hitting .400 or higher. In the first set The Fighting Irish hit .327 and was eventually edged 34-32. Notre Dame followed up with another close set in the second, falling 25-22. The Irish then fell 25-19 in the third but hit .414 in the stanza.

Errors proved costly as they made 17 attack errors, eight service errors and six reception errors in the contest altogether. Overall there were 32 tie scores and 10 lead changes between the three sets. Jeni Houser led the way with 11 kills in the match.

Its other close match against a ranked opponent was against then No. 12 Minnesota. The Fighting Irish fell 24-26 and 25-27 in the first and second sets respectively and dropped the third by a score of 25-18. Overall there was 33 tie scores and 13 lead changes. Nicole Smith and Houser each recorded double-digit kills on the day.

Against then No. 11 Purdue, Notre Dame didn't hit particularly well and only managed to keep the second set close, falling 25-23. They dropped the first and third sets by scores of 25-15 and 25-16 respectively. Then No. 6 Wisconsin also made quick work of the Irish as they fell 25-16, 25-15 and 25-16.

Sunday, Oct. 5 at 12 PM – Boston College (6-7, 1-1 ACC) | Live Stats

Boston College is 6-7 on the season and is coming off its opening weekend in the ACC in which it began with a win against Louisville in five sets and a three-set defeat against Pittsburgh. Other wins have come against Holy Cross, Hartford, Yale, Northern Kentucky and a team in which SU lost to earlier this season in Temple in five sets.

The Eagles first ACC win of the season didn't come easy as they battled Louisville in five sets. BC defeated the Cardinals in the first two sets, 25-19 and 25-22, however, Louisville fired back, dominating the next two sets winning 25-16 and 25-17 to force the fifth stanza.

BC's attack stepped up, hitting .350 in the final set to edge Louisville 15-8 to take the match. Neither team hit well overall as the Eagles finished with a .152 hitting percentage while the Cardinals finished at .164. Katty Workman was on her game, recording 21 kills in the contest, hitting .291. Julia Topor and Sol Calvete had 15 and 11 kills respectively on the day.

Pittsburgh proved to be tough to handle for Boston College as the only hitter to find success against Pitt was Topor. She finished with 18 kills on 36 attempts with just three attack errors for a .417 hitting percentage. The closest BC came to taking a set was in the first when they fell, 25-22. The second was lost 25-18 while the third was quick as Pittsburgh won the match with a 25-11 score.

The Eagles' back row has played well, contributing to the team's fourth overall ranking in the ACC in digs per set. BC is averaging 15.26 digs per set this season, trailing Duke, Pittsburgh and Lousville.

Individually a few Eagles rank among the best in the ACC. Workman is eighth in kills with 3.69 per set and her setter, Kellie Barnum is averaging 8.81 assists per set, ranking her ninth in the conference. Courtney Castle is fifth in the ACC in both, service aces and digs. She averages .41 aces per set and 4.25 digs per set this season.

SU Notes

Syracuse is coming off a weekend in which it lost to No. 12 North Carolina and one of the hottest teams in the country in NC State. The Wolfpack is currently enjoying a 12 game winning streak.
As a team, 'Cuse remains second in the conference in blocks, averaging 2.95 per set. The percentage is slighted by UNC even though SU out-blocked North Carolina in their meeting Sunday. The Tarheels are averaging 3.13 per set.
SU improved in two categories following its matches this weekend. The Orange is now sixth in the conference, averaging 14.02 digs per set. Syracuse is also seventh in opponent hitting percentage, holding its opposition to a .186 hitting percentage.
Silvi Uattara remains as one of the elite outside hitters in the conference, ranking ninth in kills per set, averaging 3.47. Gosia Wlaszczuk is averaging 7.45 assists per set to seat her 10th in the conference while she still remains an elite dual-threat with 63 kills this season.
Lindsay McCabe and Leah Levert are still one of the best blocking tandems in the conference as they are fifth and tied for sixth respectively in the ACC. McCabe averages 1.38 blocks per set while Levert is averaging 1.22 per set.

Uattara has 972 career kills, which is just 28 kills away from qualifying her for the SU record book in kills per set.
McCabe is just one solo block away from tying Andrea Carson for sixth on the all-time list at Syracuse with 73 career solos. She is just seven block assists away from the SU record in the category. Sarah Morton is currently atop the list with 458. McCabe is just 64 blocks total from tying Jessica Paarlberg for second on the all-time list with 587.