Syracuse Defeated in Regular Season Finale

Friday, November 24

1 PM

Syracuse University

21-12, 12-8ACC

Louisville

24-6, 18-2ACC

Louisville

Syracuse

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

11/24/2017 5:04:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 'Cuse vs. Louisville Box Score PDF Photo Gallery

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Belle Sand posted 27 digs on senior day and the Syracuse women's volleyball team was defeated by Louisville, 3-2 (27-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-25, 12-15), Friday afternoon at the Women's Building in the regular season finale for both sides. The Cardinals earned the ACC automatic bid into the NCAA tournament and improved to 24-6 and 18-2 in the ACC. The Orange drops to 20-13 and 12-8.

Amber Witherspoon led Syracuse with 12 kills and nine blocks. Santita Ebangwese added 10 kills with five blocks and Jalissa Trotter tallied a team-high 47 assists with 11 digs.

Melanie McHenry led Louisville with a match-high 20 kills and 12 digs. Jasmine Bennett produced 10 kills and 10 blocks, Wilma Rivera dished out a match-high 49 assists and Molly Sauer finished with 20 digs.

How It Was Decided
Syracuse trailed 24-22 in the first set but scored three straight points to retake the lead. A Louisville kill evened the score at 25, but a Witherspoon kill and a Cardinal attack error resulted in a 27-25 'Cuse victory.

The second set was another closely contested battle, with neither side leading by more than three points. Mariia Levanova played an essential role in a 25-23 triumph. She came off the bench and contributed four kills and four digs for the Orange.

A Christina Oyawale kill trimmed the Louisville lead to two, but the Cardinals ran off three of the next four points to take the third set, 25-21.

Louisville never trailed in the fourth set and forced a fifth set with a 25-15 triumph. The two sides were knotted up at 10, but the Cardinals clinched the fifth set with a 5-2 run.

Coach's Thoughts
"I think overall, it was a good game that we played against a very good team and unfortunately we couldn't sustain our level of play the entire match," said head coach Leonid Yelin. "Louisville stepped up in the last three sets and we didn't step up to the level that we needed."

Of Note
Sand has produced at least 20 digs in four straight contests. Her 495 digs this season is the eighth-highest single-season total in program history.

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