Orange Upset Irish

Friday, November 1

Syracuse, NY

7 pm

Syracuse University

7-11,4-7ACC

Notre Dame

15-6,8-3ACC

Notre Dame

Syracuse

11/1/2019 11:13:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Visual Recap

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – 43 combined kills from Polina Shemanova (22) and Ella Saada (21) lifted Syracuse volleyball (7-11, 4-7 ACC) over Notre Dame (15-6, 8-3 ACC) Friday night. The Orange beat the Irish, 3-1, after losing the opening set, 25-14. 'Cuse won by scores of 28-26, 25-23 and 25-19 en route to their second straight conference victory.

The win was the eighth in Orange program history against the Irish and first since 2017.

"They're a disciplined team, and we were less disciplined in the first game and you can see the result," said head coach Leonid Yelin following the win. "As soon as we started doing what we've been practicing lately and we changed our defensive system, it's paying off."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Syracuse was down quickly, 7-2, in the first set. Notre Dame eventually took a 17-7 lead thanks to a pair of kills and a service ace from sophomore Charley Niego. The Orange produced a 4-0 run to get within six points but the Irish cruised to the opening set victory. Shemanova had five kills and Saada had four. Yuliia Yastrub had two of her five kills in the first set.

'Cuse regained composure in the second frame, going back-and-forth with the Irish throughout. Down 10-7, it was two more kills from Shemanova that evened the score at 11. The Orange trailed again, 16-13, before rattling off five straight points to take an 18-16 lead. Abby Casiano provided a kill during the run and Shemanova had a service ace, her team-leading 25^th of the season. Syracuse battled back again after trailing 23-21, tying the score at 24, and a kill from Saada and a Notre Dame attack error clinched the stanza, 28-26, in favor of the Orange.

Syracuse's resilience was tested once again in the third set, as the Irish jumped out to an 11-5 advantage. Coming off the bench, freshman Berkley Hayes recorded two service aces in a row in between kills from Shemanova and Saada to make the score 11-9. Notre Dame clung to one and two point leads, before opening up a 21-17 cushion late in the set. The Orange closed the frame on an 8-2 run capped off by a kill from setter Elena Karakasi.

With plenty of confidence, 'Cuse built a 7-3 lead in the fourth set and never lost it. Saada led the way with seven kills in the final game. Hayes added her squad-leading third ace.

NOTEWORTHY
Shemanova notched more than 20 kills for the third match in a row. The St. Petersburg, Russia native posted over 20 kills four times in a row once during her freshman season.

Saada's 21 kills were more than she registered in her last three matches combined and tied her career-high. The junior has posted 21 kills three times in the 2019 campaign.

Karakasi tied a career-high with 43 assists in the win. She also logged 43 helpers in a five-set affair against Duke on Oct. 6.

Hayes' three service aces were a new career-high.

Libero Aliah Bowllan set a new season-high in digs with 22.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Orange welcome another tough ACC opponent to the Women's Building on Sunday as Louisville comes to town. First serve is set for 1 p.m. and the match will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra. Admission and parking are free.

For continued coverage of Syracuse Volleyball, follow us on Twitter (@CuseVB), Instagram (@cusevb) and like us on Facebook (Syracuse Volleyball).