Notre Dame Stifles 'Cuse, 3-1

Friday, October 3

South Bend, IN

7 pm

Syracuse University

7-8, 0-3ACC

Notre Dame

4-10, 1-2ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Syracuse	11	26	21	18	1
Notre Dame	25	24	25	25	3

10/4/2014 10:53:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

Syracuse finds itself on the losing side of a back-and-forth contest with Notre Dame

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Notre Dame handed Syracuse its third straight loss of the season after a close battle in which there were 13 tie scores and seven lead changes. Syracuse's streak of out-blocking its opponents is snapped at 14 games as the Fighting Irish (4-10, 2-1 ACC) tied the Orange (7-8, 0-3 ACC) with 11 total blocks.

Set-by-Set Breakdown

The Fighting Irish fired out of the gates in the first set on a mission and Syracuse was simply unable to adjust, eventually falling 25-11. ND converted a .520 hitting percentage with 15 kills on 25 attempts and just two attack errors.

Nicole Smith was able to bury five of the seven attacks she attempted into the court and picked up an ace as well for six points in the first stanza. Also powering Notre Dame's siege on the first stanza was Sydney Kuhn who was 4-of-8 with just one error and a block assist to tack on five points for her team.

The first set game plan for ND was focused on finding SU's top attacking threats (Monika Salkute and Silvi Uattara) and silencing them. The plan was well executed as Uattara was held to just one kill on nine attempts with three errors and Salkute was held out of the kill column on seven attempts in the first set.

For SU, the second stanza was a different story. The two teams traded kills until 'Cuse found itself down 22-19 which sparked Salkute and Gosia Wlaszczuk to record back-to-back kills to pull within one of the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame retaliated with a kill but the two-point, 23-21 lead was short lived as Wlaszczuk found Uattara for a kill on the ensuing play and Uattara was in on a block with Leah Levert to pick up two quick points tying the set at 23 and forcing a Notre Dame timeout.

Wlaszczuk converted on one of her unexpected attacks coming out of the break to give SU the lead. Notre Dame quickly tied the set at 24 following the kill by Wlaszczuk but a kill by Uattara and an attack error by ND tied the match up at one after SU took the second set, 26-24.

The third set appeared as if it was going to be similar to the first as Notre Dame leaped out to an 8-0 lead and then eventually extended that lead to 18-5. With its back against the wall the Orange came back swinging as SU surged on a 16-5 run, sprung by Valeriya Shaipova.

Redshirt sophomore, Shaipova recorded four straight points for SU on a kill and three service aces. Lindsay McCabe followed up the four point burst with a solo block forcing a Notre Dame timeout. SU's run continued coming out of the break as an Uattara kill and a ND attack error brought the Orange within six with Notre Dame leading, 18-12.

After a Notre Dame kill by Hanna Muzzonigro SU pulled within four with a kill by McCabe and two blocks by Levert assisted by Wlaszczuk and Uattara. With the score at 19-15 in favor of Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish took four of the next seven points to threaten with a 23-18 score.

Salkute stepped up to record a kill and join McCabe on a block assist to pick up back-to-back points followed up by an Irish attack error to pull within two, 23-21 in favor of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish put an end to the SU comeback bid by recording consecutive kills to finish the set.

The fourth and final stanza was once again a grind for both teams. However, with Notre Dame leading 20-18 the Fighting Irish picked up five straight kills to shut the door on SU and taking the match.

SU Notables

Wlaszczuk had perhaps her best match of the season. The first year setter was involved in 40 of SU's 43 kills, assisting 30 and recording a season best 10 on her own as her crafty style of play baffled the Notre Dame defense. She was solid on defense as well with five digs and two block assists.

Held quiet early, Uattara finished with a team-high 15 kills in the match and Salkute was held to seven kills. The duo also accounted for six block assists on the day, four of which were credited to Uattara. Stacey Smith also had one of her better performances of the season with five kills and one block assist.

McCabe recorded a solo block to go along with her three block assists. The solo now ties her for sixth all-time at SU in the category with 73. Levert was in on six block assists and recorded a solo for herself as well.

Melina Violas picked up a team-high 11 digs on the evening while Salkute and Shaipova each had nine. Shaipova finished with six points (three kills and three aces). Belle Sand also picked up six digs in the match.

Notre Dame Stat Pack

The Fighting Irish attack was firing on all cylinders Friday night as three of Notre Dame's players hit .412 or better and four players had ten or more kills. As a team, ND hit .309 in the match.

Smith led the way with 16 while Sydney Kuhn was key down the stretch and finished with 13 kills and 12 digs. Jeni Houser and Katie Higgins finished with 11 and 10 kills respectively.

Feeding the attack was Muzzonigro who was one shy of 50 assists with 49 in the match. Sam Fry was a force on the net with eight kills and six blocks (two solos and four assisted). Higgins was credited with four block assists as well.

Back To The East Coast

On Sunday, October 5 at noon the Orange will face Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass. You can get the full scouting report as well as the link for live statistics here.