No. 12 UNC Tops ‘Cuse, 3-0

Sunday, September 28

Chapel Hill, NC

2 pm

Syracuse University

7-7, 0-2ACC

North Carolina

10-2, 1-1ACC

Syracuse

North Carolina

9/28/2014 7:06:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Syracuse falls to its first ranked opponent of the season in three sets

On Sunday afternoon, Syracuse completed its weekend trip to North Carolina with a 3-0 loss to No. 12 North Carolina after falling to NC State on Friday. Despite the three set sweep, SU (7-7) kept each set close with a total 22 ties and nine lead changes throughout its match with UNC (10-2).

How It Happened

After leading in the first set 5-3, Syracuse refused to let the Tarheels extend its lead. The Orange tied the set three times before Gosia Wlaszczuk gave SU its first lead of the match by a score of 9-8 on another one of her signature unexpected attacks that fell to the floor for a kill.

Wlaszczuk recorded an ace on the following play and then fed a kill by Silvi Uattara to give Syracuse a three-point lead with an 11-8 score. Syracuse maintained its three point lead until three straight attack errors by SU not only tied the match up at 16, but it gave UNC the confidence it needed to finish the set strong. The Tarheels took the lead but it did not last long as SU tied the game at 19 before won the next six of the next seven points to close out the set in their favor, 25-20.

The second set had a very similar plot to the stanza that preceeded it as there were eight tie scores to begin the set until UNC went on a 5-1 burst after the score was tied at nine to take a 14-10 lead. SU began its comeback once it found itself down by six, trailing UNC 22-16.

'Cuse won three of the next four points and still trailed North Carolina 23-19. Jordyn Schnabl recorded the next kill, presenting set point. SU won the next two points to try to build some momentum but a service error by the Orange let Tarheels off the hook as they won the second set, 25-10.

No different from the previous two sets, the third began neck-a-neck with six tie scored until UNC finally broke a 6-6 tie with a four-point run to take a 10-6 lead. The Orange climbed back to pull within one, trailing the Tarheels, 11-10, but UNC gave a 5-0 rebuttal to extend its lead to 16-10.

The deficit proved to be too much for the Orange to recover from as the closest they came to threatening UNC was when SU trailed by five with the Tarheels leading 21-16. North Carolina won four of the following six points to close the door on SU with a final score of 25-18.

Orange By The Numbers

The Orange continues its streak as it has out-blocked every team it has faced this season, out-blocking the Tarheels, 7-6. Uattara recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Monika Salkute also recorded a team-high 10 kills on the day while Valeriya Shaipova had six.

Wlaszczuk recorded assists on 25 of SU's 31 kills. Melina Violas started the game at libero and recorded nine digs while Wlaszczuk had eight. Leah Levert and Uattara led the way in blocks with four each while Lindsay McCabe and Salkute each had two.

UNC Grinds Out The Win

It was North Carolina's depth that sealed its victory. When someone wasn't getting it done on the court there was someone to step in and take over. As the match went on the Tarheels improved its hitting percentage, hitting .214 in the first, .216 in the second and .257 in the third. Its averages remained just slightly higher than SU's, and proved to be the difference in a very evenly matched contest.

Schnabl and Abigail Curry fed the offense as Schnabl picked up 20 assists and Curry had 14. Only one member of the Tarheels had double-digit kills as she converted on 10 attempts to go along with her eight digs. Paige Neuenfeldt led the way on the net with four blocks while Chaniel Nelson recorded three.

The Road Trip Continues

The Orange takes a trip to South Bend, Indiana for a 7:00 PM matchup on Friday, October 3 with Notre Dame. From there, SU will come back to the east coast to take on Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts on Sunday, October 5 at 12:00 PM.