‘Cuse Splits Final Day Of Non-Conference Play

Sunday, September 21

Syracuse, NY

12:30 pm

Syracuse University

6-5

Colgate

5-4

Colgate

Syracuse

9/22/2014 9:34:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

The Orange caps off the Otto Invitational with a victory over Cornell and a 3-2 loss to Colgate.

Box Score (Colgate) | Box Score (Cornell) | Photo Gallery

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Non-conference play comes to a close with the end of the Otto Invitational. After winning its first game against Albany, the Orange split day two with a victory over Cornell and a loss to the tournament champion, Colgate.

Highlights

Monika Salkute led the way for the Orange in both matches, recording a total 38 kills, nine aces and 10 blocks, all of which were assisted for a total 52 points on the day. Against Colgate she served a career best seven aces and also a career best 18 kills to go along with 15 kills and six block assists. She bettered her opening performance in the following matchup with 20 kills in the four set victory over Cornell.

Outside hitter, Silvi Uattara tallied 18 kills against the Raiders and had just as many digs, tying a career best performance.

Gosia Wlaszczuk fed a career best 42 assists against the Big Red after setting 35 kills the previous game against the Raiders.

Syracuse remains the better team in the blocking category against all of its opponents this season. Out-blocking Cornell, 12-6 and Colgate, 10-8.

Walk on freshman, Belle Sand's play the last few games earned her an opportunity as SU's starting libero on Sunday. Sand recorded 13 digs against Colgate and 18 in the matchup with Cornell.

Anna Connelly saw her first in-game collegiate action against Colgate.

The Escape Artist

Up 2-0 against Colgate the victory was in sight and within the grasp of the Orange. 'Cuse previously had defeated the Raiders 25-18 and 25-21 to begin the game. However, Colgate battled back to pull off a comeback win by defeating Syracuse in the next three sets.

'Cuse out-hit Colgate in the first two sets, swinging .360 in the first and .438 in the second. However, the Orange began to struggle the rest of the way, giving Colgate the momentum and confidence it needed to win the next three sets to earn the victory.

Salkute and Uattara led the way with 18 kills each. Lindsay McCabe and Wlaszczuk had eight and six kills respectively. Leah Levert and Salkute dominated the net as they were in on six of SU's 10 kills. Wlaszczuk accounted for 42 of the Orange's 55 kills.

The Final Non-Conference Test

In the final match of the Otto Invitational, 'Cuse and Cornell traded blows in a tight first set that ended with a 25-22 score in favor of the Orange. The next set was not as close as 'Cuse defeated the Big Red 25-12, but sparked a rebuttal by the opposition in the third set. Cornell took the third by a score of 25-17. Syracuse then finished off Cornell in the fourth with a 25-16 victory to bring its record to 7-5 on the season.

Salkute was the leader by a longshot in kills with 20 while McCabe was second in the stat with eight. Uattara and Valeriya Shaipova each had six of their own. Wlaszczuk set the Orange on 35 of their 46 kills. McCabe led the way on the net with seven total blocks while Salkute and Levert had four.

Onto North Carolina

ACC play begins for Syracuse Friday, September 26 at 7 PM at NC State. From there the Orange will be featured on ESPN3 in its matchup with North Carolina at 2 PM on Sunday, September 28.