No. 11 Marquette Sweeps Syracuse as the Orange Remain Winless
By Brad Klein
CitrusTV Volleyball Beat Reporter
MILWAUKEE – The Syracuse women’s volleyball team entered their 2019 campaign with a lot of unanswered questions. The Orange lost eight players from their historic 2018 squad that made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. But, expectations were still sky-high for SU this season even with a team of fresh faces.
Two matches into the year, the Orange are yet to win a set, their worst start to a season since 2016. On Saturday, No. 11 Marquette (5-0, 0-0 BIG East) showed that they play at a different level, dominating Syracuse (0-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) 3-0.
The Golden Eagles wasted no time jumping out on top of the Orange, taking the first set 25-12. Marquette stunned Syracuse with a hitting percentage of nearly 60% and no attack errors.
What was supposed to be SU’s strength is looking like its biggest weakness as the Orange lost the battle at the net, only notching nine kills in the first frame. The Orange finished the match with an overall hitting percentage of under 15%.
The Orange showed some signs of life in the second set, playing in stride with the Golden Eagles. Eventually, Marquette took the set 25-23 as Ella Saada committed the costly attack error, allowing the Golden Eagle to clinch the set. The sophomore struggled throughout the match with just 6 kills and one assist.
Marquette completed the sweep by coasting to a 25-18 third set victory. The Golden Eagles rode the coattails of Outside Hitter Allie Barber. The senior smacked down a game-high 15 kills, continuing her stellar season with an average of five kills per set.
Syracuse has less than a week to sort things out. They start the Kansas Invitational on Friday at 5 pm against Morehead State.
bwklein@syr.edu | @BradKlein15
