Fast Start Comes Up Short Against Pittsburgh

Friday, September 22

Pittsburgh, PA

7 PM

Syracuse University

9-6, 1-1ACC

Pittsburgh

8-4, 1-0ACC

Syracuse

Pitt

9/22/2017 10:30:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 'Cuse vs. Pittsburgh Box Score PDF

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – After winning the first set, the Syracuse women's volleyball team was defeated by Pittsburgh 3-1 (25-21, 14-25, 22-25, 13-25) Friday night in an ACC Matchup.

Anastasiya Gorelina led Syracuse (9-6, 1-1 ACC) with 13 kills and Kendra Lukacs added 12 kills with seven digs. Santita Ebangwese totaled eight kills with a match-high six blocks and Belle Sand tied for a match-leading 12 digs. Annie Bozzo had a team-high 30 assists.

Nika Markovic recorded a match-high 19 kills for Pittsburgh (8-4, 1-0 ACC). Kamalani Akeo led all competitors with 60 assists and Layne Van Buskirk blocked five shots.

How It Was Decided
The Orange jumped out to an early one set lead in the match. After trailing 15-10, 'Cuse went on a 15-6 scoring run to take the set, 25-21.

The Panthers opened up a 10-2 lead and never looked back in a 25-14 second set triumph.

Syracuse was in control for the beginning of the third set, but Pittsburgh broke open a 13-13 tie with a 6-2 scoring run and held off a late Orange comeback to win, 25-22.

Pittsburgh took control early on in the fourth set and came away with a 25-13 victory.

Coach's Thoughts
"We played against a very good team," said head coach Leonid Yelin. "In the first set, we fell behind, but the players stayed stable and we were able to come back and take the set. In the third set we fought hard to come back, but we came up just short."

Of Note
Lukacs recorded a match-high .476 hitting percentage. On 21 attempts, she had 12 kills and two errors.

What's Next?
The Orange will play its second of three straight road games at Duke on Thursday, Sep. 28 at 6:30 p.m.

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