Orange battle, fall 3-1 to UConn at home

Friday, August 26

5 pm

Syracuse University

0-1

UConn

1-0

Connecticut

Syracuse

8/26/2016 9:30:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Second-set rally not enough in season-opening loss

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Orange volleyball team fought their first battle of 2016 on Friday night, but ultimately lost in the season-opener to the UConn Huskies in four sets (23-25, 26-24, 23-25, 22-25) at the Women's Building.

"If you were here last year, are there a lot of familiar faces to you?" head coach Leonid Yelin said post-game Friday night in reference to the four senior starters that were lost by the Orange (0-1) this season. "We are all learning as we are going."

However, throughout every set with the Huskies (1-0), the Orange lost by no more than three points, making all of the sets close.

"When you have to step up, you have to step up right away in this kind of fight, and fight for this kind of momentum," Yelin said of his team's performance Friday night.

"For us, it's a lack of experience."

Despite being up three points early in the first set, the Huskies quickly came back to tie it at seven. With consistent back-and-forth movement for the remainder of the set, the Orange used both of their timeouts early on. 'Cuse battled to overcome a 24-21 split late in the first set, but the Huskies were able to come out on top with a 25-23 win.

The Orange came out with momentum in the second and forced an early timeout by the Huskies, which lead to a convincing block by sophomore Anastasiya Gorelina immediately after the break. The Orange went on to easily take a three-point lead after a kill by Santita Ebangwese.

From then on, set two was yet again a back-and-forth battle. The pair tied at 17 and again at 23, however the Orange were able to come out victorious 26-24 to even the game at one match apiece.

Early on in set three, freshman Kendra Lukacs went on a seven-point service run giving the Orange the lead over the Huskies. UConn ended it with a kill, but Belle Sand quickly came back with an ace giving the Orange an eight-point lead. The lead diminished quickly, as the Huskies caught up to the Orange, tying the score at 16. The Huskies ultimately came out on top in the race to 25, finishing the set 25-23.

Early mistakes in the fourth lead to a consistent two-point deficit for the Orange throughout set four. Much like the past three sets, set four was yet again a battle. Both teams remained within at most three points of each other at all times, forcing the Orange to call two timeouts late in the game attempting to slow down the Huskies' momentum. Eventually, UConn outlasted the Orange, taking set four, 25-22.

Gorelina and Lukacs led the Orange with 14 kills apiece, while freshman Mackenzie Weaver added seven and Amber Witherspoon tallied six.

The Orange were dominant at the net, as Witherspoon registered three solo stops and a block assist, while both Gorelina and Lukacs had each. Syracuse outblocked the Huskies 13.0-3.0 in total team stops.

Sand led the Orange effort in digs with 18, while Lukacs tallied 15 on the night.

Yelin continued to comment on the need for the Orange to establish pivotal players who are going to deliver in important game moments.

"In this kind of situation who is going to say 'It's me, give me the ball" and really deliver," Yelin said.

The Orange refocus Sunday when they take on Colgate at 1:00 p.m. in the Women's Building.

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