Volleyball Pulls Off Incredible Five Set Comeback Against Wake Forest

Ryan Bridges | @RyanBridges517

CitrusTV Volleyball Beat Reporter

Syracuse, N.Y. – Volleyball mounted a wild comeback to beat Wake Forest in five sets.

SU dropped the first two sets of the match despite the incredible play of Polina Shemanova. The grad student had a whopping nine kills in the first set.

However, their undefeated ACC record was at risk.

Wake Forest continued their momentum from the first two sets, taking a 6-3 lead to start the third.

This is when the Orange began to turn the tide. SU won 13 of the next 17 points, giving them a commanding lead of the set. Syracuse won the set 25-16.

In the fourth set, it was the Naomi Franco show. The right side hitter had six kills in the fourth set alone.

Despite her efforts, the Orange still could not get out in front of the Demon Deacons.

After back-to-back kills from Ashley Slater, Wake Forest took a 24-22 lead and had their first match point.

That’s when the Orange stunned the crowd inside Reynolds Gym by winning four straight points.

This was huge for Syracuse, especially because they had trailed the entire set.

Earlier in the game, it was Polina Shemanova who was carrying SU. Later on, it was Naomi Franco. However, in the fifth set, they came together as a duo to put the Orange over the top. Shemanova and Franco combined for 10 of Syracuse’s 15 points.

This match was the first reverse sweep of the Orange’s season, which means they won three sets in a row after going down 2-0.

SU is now on their first three-game winning streak of the season, and are 3-0 in the ACC for the first time since 2018.

Syracuse will now travel to Blacksburg to take on Virginia Tech on Sunday. That match is at 1 p.m., and will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.