Orange Topped by #18 Seminoles in Four

Sunday, November 13

1 pm

Syracuse University

7-19, 6-10ACC

Florida State

20-5, 13-3ACC

Florida State

Syracuse

11/13/2016 4:36:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Sand tallies 1,000th career dig at home

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – A second third-set rally of the weekend wasn't enough for the Orange, as the Syracuse volleyball team was defeated in four sets (25-23, 25-9, 24-26, 25-20) by 18th-ranked Florida State on Sunday afternoon at the Women's Building.

Syracuse is now 6-10 in conference play and 7-19 overall, while No. 18 Florida State advanced to 13-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and 20-5 overall.

"We have to come back and play with the same type of energy that we played with in the first game and then continue to do that," head coach Leonid Yelin said. "We can't take a break because the match isn't over.

"We need to carry what was good from the last game over into the next set," Yelin said. "Within the match, there were a lot of good things. We served the way that we wanted to. We played defense well, too. The second game was a result of a mental dip after the end of the first set."

Defensive efforts pushed the Orange through four sets today, as junior Belle Sand led the stride with 18 digs to surpass the 1,000th career-dig benchmark. Sophomore Jalissa Trotter also tallied 18 digs to tie Sand for the team-lead.

Three more Orange players tallied double-digit digs to solidify the Syracuse defense, as freshmen Kendra Lukacs and Mackenzie Weaver had 12 apiece, while sophomore Anastasiya Gorelina had 11.

From the net, Syracuse controlled the game in blocking efforts with 11.0 to FSU's 7.0, as junior Leah Levert tallied six block assists and a solo stop to lead the Orange.

Weaver led the 'Cuse effort in kills with 17, while Gorelina followed up with 16 of her own. Levert ranked third on the team with nine, while Trotter added 38 assists.

Gorelina, Weaver and Trotter all tallied double-doubles for the Orange.

Syracuse fought Florida State down to the wire thanks to an 8-0 run in the middle of the first set, but the Seminoles were able to outlast 'Cuse, 25-23.

The Orange lost mental focus in the second set, and were defeated 25-9 to trail two sets to none heading into the break.

Looking for a comeback, Syracuse gained control of the third set with an 11-2 run. The Seminoles crept back up to come within three points (15-12 SU), but the Orange extended the lead to six points to force an FSU timeout.

The clubs battled back-and-forth into extra points, until 'Cuse was able to push the fourth set with a 26-24 victory in the third thanks to a solo block from Gorelina for game point.

Syracuse took an early lead in the fourth game, but FSU was able to regain the lead and close out set four, 25-20, to win the match, 3-1.

The Orange return to the Women's Building next weekend for a pair of games on Friday and Sunday. Syracuse hosts Pittsburgh on Friday night at 7 p.m., and then welcomes Virginia Tech on Sunday for a home finale at 1 p.m.

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