Syracuse University
8-21, 1-16ACC
Virginia Tech
16-14, 9-8ACC
‘Cuse Falls To Virginia Tech In Three
11/26/2014 10:14:00 PM | Volleyball
A steady attack by the Hokies wore down the Orange to take the match in three sets
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Wednesday night the Orange fell to the Virginia Tech Hokies in three sets (25-19, 25-21, 25-16). The 'Cuse offense thrived in the first but defensive adjustments and a steady, consistent attack eventually became insurmountable.
'Cuse By The Numbers
Syracuse scored at will in the first set, hitting .357 in the opening stanza but the Hokies made adjustments necessary to stun the Orange attack to hit just .140 in the match.
Silvi Uattara led 'Cuse with nine kills while swinging .292. Lindsay McCabe finished with five kills on 10 tries in her first game back from injury.
Monika finished with eight kills and Stacey Smith finished with three. Syracuse went with Lucie Guttakovskaia at setter for the majority of the match. The freshman finished with 15 assists. In the time Gosia Wlaszczuk was in she tallied seven assists.
Belle Sand and Melina Violas combined for 11 digs in the back row with Sand getting six as the libero.
Leah Levert and McCabe each picked up two block assists and a solo block in the match. Wlaszczuk, Smith and Guttakovskaia all tallied a block assist.
Breaking Down The Loss
Falling behind early, Syracuse's offense began to click and quickly found itself knotted up with the Hokies at 12 in the opening set. Just as its offense was coming together, the defense began to break down as Virginia Tech's offense peppered the Orange until errors were made allowing the Hokies to jump out to an 18-13 lead.
Syracuse was able to pull within three, winning three of the next four points, but the comeback was stonewalled and Tech surged, winning six of the next nine points take the first set, 25-19.
The second set was never favored one way was the two teams traded points all the way until the score was 20-19 in favor of Tech. With its lead threatened, Virginia Tech made key plays when it needed to, outscoring the Orange 5-2 to take the second stanza, 25-21.
The Orange was met by a much stronger Hokies defense in the third set, leading to Tech taking a 12-6 lead in the third with an 8-2 run. Syracuse was soon after the victim of a 6-0 run, falling behind, 22-11. The two teams traded points until Virginia Tech eventually won the set, 25-16 to take the match.
Senior Night Scheduled For The Season Finale
Friday is Senior Night for the Orange. Syracuse will honor Lindsay McCabe, Melina Violas and Stacey Smith in a pre-match ceremony and will host Virginia at 7:00 PM.
