‘Cuse Downs Cardinals in Five-Set Thriller

Sunday, October 9

1 pm

Syracuse University

4-12, 3-3ACC

Louisville

6-10, 1-5ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Louisville	25	23	20	25	10	2
Syracuse	22	25	25	23	15	3

10/9/2016 4:52:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Trotter, Weaver and Bozzo tally career-high numbers

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – With blocking numbers and career days on its side, the Orange volleyball team claimed its second-consecutive and second all-time win over Louisville in five sets (22-25, 25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 15-10) on Sunday afternoon at the Women's Building. Syracuse is now 3-3 in ACC play and 4-12 overall.

'What we would like to do… every time that we're doing something right, whether we win or lose, we want to build on it," head coach Leonid Yelin said looking forward.

"We have to build something off of every game that we have, and off of every possession that we have."

The Orange were hot on both offense and defense, as the pair of sophomore Jalissa Trotter and freshman Mackenzie Weaver tallied career-high numbers in assists and digs, respectively.

Trotter delivered 51 assists on the game to top her previous career-high mark of 45. The setter also added six kills and three block assists to the winning effort.

Leading in kills for Syracuse was Weaver, who had 18 for her second-highest mark of the season. The outside hitter tallied 17 digs for a new career-high mark, while also adding two assisted stops at the net.

Joining Weaver in the attack effort was junior Leah Levert, who contributed a season-high 12 kills with just one error (12K – 1E – 18A) for a .611 hitting percentage on the night. Levert was just as big of a help on defense, as the middle blocker added six block assists to the Orange effort.

Santita Ebangwese led the Orange at the net, as the sophomore tallied a season-high seven block assists, while tying her season-high mark of one solo stop on the night. The middle blocker tallied her second-highest kill count with 11.

Junior Belle Sand led the effort from the back court, as the libero tallied 20 digs for her second-highest count of the season. Sophomore Annie Bozzo was right behind with career-high 17 digs of her own.

Redshirt sophomore Christina Oyawale and freshman Kendra Lukacs were key contributors on offense and defense as well. Oyawale added five kills and three block assists, while Lukacs tallied seven kills and four assisted stops at the net.

The Orange dominated Louisville (6-10, 1-5 ACC) at the net, as Syracuse tallied 14.0 team blocks to the Cardinals' 5.0.

The Cardinals came out strong in the first set, but a 9-2 Orange run gave Syracuse its first lead of the game (15-14 SU).

'Cuse got too comfortable, as it surrendered a 6-0 run to Louisville to give up the lead (20-15 UL).

Despite the Orange effort to fight back, the Cardinals were able to maintain the lead and close out the first set, 25-22.

Syracuse came out with a vengeance in the second set, taking an immediate 10-5 lead to force the Louisville timeout.

Out of the break, the Orange maintained with a 6-6 run to push the second UL timeout of the set (16-11 SU).

Play momentum switched back-and-forth throughout the remainder of the second game, as the Cardinals attempted to close the gap. Syracuse held onto its lead and finished game two on top, 25-23.

Points sided out to start the third set, until the Orange capitalized on a 5-0 run to force the Cardinals to call a timeout (12-9 SU). Neither team was able to increase the gap out of the break, as the pair shared an even 7-7 run going into the second Louisville timeout (19-16 SU).

A 6-4 run sealed the third game for the Orange, 25-20.

Louisville took the lead early on in the fourth set and never looked back, as the Cardinals won the game 25-23 over the Orange to push the fifth set.

Riding on the momentum of the Women's Building crowd, the Orange powered through the fifth set with superior blocking efforts and offensive strategies to come out on top, 15-10, to claim the conference win over the Cardinals.

Syracuse takes to the road for a four-game road trip, its longest of the season. The Orange will play at Clemson on Friday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m., and then travel to Georgia Tech on Sunday, Oct. 16 for a 1 p.m. match.

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