Syracuse Swept by Louisville in Sloppy Game

By Leo Silverman

Citrus TV Volleyball Beat Reporter

LOUISVILLE, Ky – Last week, Syracuse ended a two-game road trip in Indiana with a straight-set loss to the Fighting Irish. That game saw the Orange struggle to get going offensively, committing errors in both service and attack that cost them even a single set win.

Unfortunately for Syracuse (2-3, 2-3 Atlantic Coast) fans, today’s match against No. 9 (3-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast) Louisville only got worse. For the second game in a row, the Orange lost in straight-sets. This time the Orange lost in a much more convincing fashion, as Syracuse dropped the first two sets by double-digit points. Once again, the Orange hurt themselves with too many errors. 

Set one started ugly for the Orange, as SU found themselves in a five-point hole, 1-6. Just seven points into the game, Syracuse had committed three errors. It wouldn’t get any better for the Orange, as the midway point of the opening set saw them down 8-17. Nine of those Cardinal points came off six attacking errors and three service errors. Two of those service errors came from one of SU’s best from behind the line, Sophomore Marina Markova. Syracuse would go on to lose the opening set 15-25. The Orange had a negative hit percentage of -.034 and committed 16 total errors to the Cardinals five.

Surely the second set would see Syracuse wake up, right? Quite the opposite. Once again, the Orange would fall into another five-point hole, down exactly 1-6 all over again. The difference this time around? Five of the Cardinal’s six points came off SU attacking errors. Nine points later the Orange trailed 4-12 thanks to three more errors and back-to-back service ace’s from Cardinals Sophomore Aiko Jones. Louisville led by fifteen at one point in this set, up 8-23. Syracuse would lose set two by the biggest margin for the Orange this season, 12-25. SU recorded its worst hitting percentage of the season in a singular set with a -.167. Sprinkle in 14 attacking errors for what looks to be SU’s worst set of the 2020 season.

Syracuse made the match competitive in the third set. This set saw the largest lead from the Orange on the night, as SU led 7-4 early in the third set. Two Cardinal kills and two Syracuse attacking errors later, and that lead evaporated as Louisville led 7-8. The Orange wouldn’t lead again in the set from there. Three cardinal errors in a row would see the Orange tie it up at fifteen all before Jones took the lead back for Louisville. She’d lead the match in kills with eleven on the night. Syracuse would lose the third set in the most fitting way, a net violation, to give the Cardinals the sweep of the Orange winning set three 21-25. 

Junior Polina Shermanova led the Orange with ten kills and a .120 hitting percentage and seven attacking errors. Her two fellow outside hitters Ella Saada and Yuliia Yastrub both hit in the negative for the match. Freshman Lauren Hogan and Marina Markova both had two service errors in the game. As a team, the Orange committed 39 errors, as the Orange fell to 2-3 on the season. Game two against the Louisville Cardinals is tomorrow night at seven.

msilve09@syr.edu | @LeoSilverman