Syracuse Volleyball Struggles Down South
By Josh Solomon | @JoshSolo29
Going south for two ACC matchups over the weekend, Syracuse Volleyball had all the confidence after reverse sweeping Notre Dame last Sunday. That excitement of staying above .500 took a turn for the worst.
Starting with a match on Friday night against number 15 Georgia Tech, Syracuse hadn’t faired well against ranked teams this season. SU came into the match with five losses against ranked teams, all ending in straight sets. So, let’s just say the expectations weren’t high. But what fueled the Yellow Jackets more was that senior night was celebrated pregame. This meant all of the parents and families of the graduating GT squad were in attendance and I don’t think they were disappointed. A few stood out in particular. Georgia Tech outside hitter Tamara Otene tallied nine kills in the first set. Yellow Jackets middle blocker DeAndra Pierce finished with 10 kills on the night. Georgia Tech outside hitter Bianca Bertolino also finished the match with 10 kills. So, safe to say Syracuse faced some heavy hitters. It was just too much for SU to handle as the match went 25-16, 25-15, 25-17 all heading the way of GT. The Orange’s atrocious 12% hitting percentage in this match was utilized by the Yellow Jackets whose hitting was 40%. This loss for Syracuse marked its sixth against a ranked opponent and all of the matches were ended in straight-sets.
Luckily for the ‘Cuse, Clemson was the opponent on Sunday who has also struggled mightily this season against ACC opponents. The Tigers coming into the match had just one conference victory this year. However, that win came just two days prior in a 3-2 sets victory over Boston College. With momentum on their side, the Tigers jumped ahead early with 25-14 first and second-set victories. Both sets were competitive in the first half before Clemson jumped ahead. In the first set, the Tigers scored seven of the final 10 points. In the second set, Syracuse took a timeout down by three points, 14-17. After the stoppage, Clemson scored eight points in a row. The third set was the closest with four tied scores late. The Orange scored three of the last five points in the set, but the Tigers finished things off with a 25-23 third-set victory securing a straight-sets win.
After this loss, Syracuse is at .500, with a record of 14-14. This comes after SU started the season undefeated in nonconference play, 12-0. The Orange have struggled against ACC opponents with a 2-14 record in conference play along with 10 straight set losses in that span. SU only has four games left in its regular season with two of them against Boston College. The first is tomorrow at 6 p.m. in the Women’s Building.
