Orange Sweeps Pittsburgh in Opening Weekend

Saturday, September 26

Syracuse, N.Y.

6 PM

Syracuse University

2-0,2-0ACC

Pittsburgh

0-2,0-2ACC

Pittsburgh

Syracuse

9/26/2020 11:03:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

The Orange volleyball team swept Pittsburgh in a weekend series with a 3-0 victory on Saturday in the Women's Building. Syracuse (2-0 overall, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) defeated the Panthers, 3-2, on Friday to open the 2020 season. Syracuse earned the second win with set scores of 25-21, 27-25 and 25-19. It is the first time the Panthers (0-2, 0-2) have been swept in a weekend since the start of the 2017 season. The 2017 campaign is also the last time Pittsburgh lost back-to-back ACC matches.

"What a great team win," said head coach Leonid Yelin. "We had great contributions from everyone who played, especially the new players."

Sophomore Viktoriia Lokhmanchuk tallied four kills in her return to the court after suffering a knee injury one match into the 2019 season and freshman Lauren Hogan led all players with 15 digs and had three assists.

Syracuse opened the match with a 25-51 win in the first set. The teams battled back and forth before Syracuse used a 10-6 run to win the set, 25-21. Junior Polina Shemanova sparked the Orange at the end of the set with a pair of kills and a block.

In the second set, the Orange trailed 17-13 before putting together a 12-8 stretch to win the match. Senior Ella Saada scored three of Syracuse's final four points on kills. Sophomore Marina Markova provided three kills and a block in the middle set.

The third set was back and forth until sophomore Abby Casiano put away a kill from the middle to spark a 3-0 scoring run to that gave Syracuse a lead that it never relinquished. Markova added four kills in the third set, including two of the final six points for the Orange. Junior Elena Karakasi closed the match with a service ace.

Quick Hits

Junior Elena Karakasi registered 87 assists in the weekend series, pushing her career total past 1,000. The native of Marousi-Athens, Greece has 1,071 in her Syracuse career.
Sophomore Marina Markova tallied 19 kills during the opening weekend, increasing her career total to 152 in 15 matches played.
Junior Polina Shemanova is approaching the 1,000 career kills milestone. She has 960 through 55 matches. Last season she set the Syracuse single-match record with 36 against Louisville and led the ACC with 485 for the season.

Next Up
The Orange return to the court with a pair of matches at Notre Dame on Friday, October 2nd (7 pm) and Saturday, October 3rd (6 pm ).

For all of the latest information on Syracuse volleyball, follow us on Facebook (CuseVB), Twitter (@CuseVB), and Instagram (@cusevb).

Syracuse University Athletics remains committed to doing everything it can to support and protect the health, safety and well-being of our student-athletes, our staff and the campus and Syracuse communities. All decisions will be science-based and informed by public health and guidance as provided by county, state and public health officials.

If fans are permitted to attend games – in some capacity – Syracuse Athletics will announce plans for spectators to secure admission to the events. Fans will be required to sit in their socially-distanced seat locations and wear a face covering.