Syracuse Volleyball Dominates Day 1 in the Big Apple
Syracuse Volleyball Dominates Day 1 in the Big Apple
By Josh Solomon | @JoshSolo29
New York City, N.Y. – Ten points into the third set of this morning’s game, Columbia looked to be making a turnaround against Syracuse, who was leading by two sets at the time. A little bit later into the set, the Tigers were still ahead of the Orange 15 to 10. But against this red-hot SU squad, a five-point lead didn’t mean anything. Syracuse scored seven of the last ten points, won the third set 25 to 22, and defeated Columbia 3 to 0 in straight sets. That was just one of two wins the ‘Cuse had today at the Big Apple Tournament.
That match against Columbia in the city that never sleeps started bright and early at 11 a.m. The Orange then faced off against Fordham in an evening 5 p.m. game, looking to improve to 5-0 on the year. Fordham had a shorter rest window. The Rams played at 1:30 p.m. this afternoon and defeated Manhattan College in straight sets for their first win of the year.
Similar to the beginning of the third set against Columbia, Syracuse started off slow in its second game of the day. Fordham started the game on an 11 to 0 run. Fueled by five blocks, the Rams were able to comfortably take the first set 25 to 15. Passing problems plagued the Orange and attack errors started to rack up.
But then the Syracuse offense started to come alive. Syracuse was able to push ahead 15 to 12 in the second. Outside hitter Ava Palm continued her dominant stretch on the court as Syracuse took a back-and-forth second set 25-20. Through two sets, Palm already had 10 kills.
The momentum continued into the third. In one of the best sets from the Orange all day, Syracuse comfortably won the set 25-14,
And then SU jumped out early in the fourth and didn’t look back. Two late runs from Fordham forced timeouts from Syracuse, but the Orange (5-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) would comfortably come away with a 3-1 victory over the Rams (2-2, 0-0 Patriot League).
Ava Palm (19 kills), Skyler George (12), and Sara Wasiakowska (13) controlled the offense, while freshman libero Emma Ortiz had her first four aces of the year.
The ‘Cuse return for a final match in the Big Apple against Manhattan College tomorrow at noon in the Levien Gymnasium.
