15 Blocks Not Enough In Orange's 3-0 Loss To Notre Dame

Friday, October 26

South Bend, Ind.

7 pm

Syracuse University

12-7, 8-3ACC

Notre Dame

13-8, 7-4ACC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
SU	21	18	18	0
Notre Dame	25	25	25	3

10/26/2018 9:38:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Despite 15 team blocks, the Syracuse University volleyball team was unable to defeat Notre Dame Friday evening. The Orange could not overcome a series of errors losing by set scores of 25-21, 25-18, 25-18.

Amber Witherspoon led the Syracuse (12-7, 8-3 ACC) blockers with nine. Santita Ebangwese and Polina Shemanova contributed six and four, respectively.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame (12-8, 6-4 ACC) and Syracuse opened the match with similar hitting percentages, .255 and .220, respectively, in the first set. However, a 10-1 run pushed the Fighting Irish ahead, 14-10, for a lead they would not relinquish.

Ebangwese opened the second set with a kill but the Orange gave up a 7-1 run that included four Syracuse errors. After taking advantage of three service errors from the Irish, Syracuse used back-to-back blocks to halt the Notre Dame offense. 'Cuse's fourth block of the set by Jalissa Trotter and Witherspoon pulled the Orange within one, 14-13. Following a timeout, Notre Dame jumped out to a 19-13 lead with five-straight points.

Down 5-2 in a close third set, a kill from Shemanova sparked the Orange offense starting a 7-2 run that gave Syracuse a 9-7 lead. Notre Dame did not stay quiet for long using three-straight kills from Charley Niego to take a 12-10 lead. Down 20-14, Syracuse had back-to-back blocks but was unable to cut the deficit to less than four.

OF NOTE
Friday's match was Syracuse's sixth this season with 15 or more blocks while both teams struggled on the serve combining for 14 errors. Shemanova extended her double-digit kill streak to 11 matches including four-straight double-doubles. She and Yuliia Yastrub had a team-high 11 digs.

UP NEXT
The Orange continue their road swing as they take on No. 22 Louisville Sunday afternoon. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m. on ACCN Extra. Syracuse returns home for a midweek matchup Oct. 31 against Boston College at 5 p.m.