Syracuse Volleyball Falls to #3 Pittsburgh
By Annie Klaff
CitrusTV Volleyball Beat Reporter
PITTSBURGH, P.A. – The Orange Volleyball team came out strong in their match versus third ranked Pittsburgh. Keeping the first set close for its entirety, Syracuse fell to Pitt only by two points, 25-23.
After that, the nationally ranked team took over and proved why they stand third in the table. The Panthers defeated the Orange 25-15 in set two and 25-13 in the final set, securing the match in a 3-0 set sweep.
On the matter of falling quickly after a strong start, Head Coach Yelin said, “It is so hard to keep that momentum when you are working that much harder than the other team. We still have to prove we are at that level. I know we can be. The first set showed that tonight.”
Ultimately, with a strong first set or not, Pittsburgh dominated Syracuse in many areas of the court. The Panthers recorded 50 kills, compared to SU’s 31. Additionally, Pitt held a hitting percentage of .345, while keeping Syracuse at just .121.
In set one, SU recorded a decent percentage of 0.294, almost matching Pitt’s 0.298. Set three brought a wave of triumph over the Orange. Syracuse’s hitting percentage here dropped down to 0.033, compared to Pittsburgh’s 0.484.
Despite the defeat, sophomore libero Lauren Hogan put on another strong performance. Hogan jumped from her season high of digs recorded at 16 under a month ago, to 31 last weekend and 29 tonight against the number three team in the nation.
Junior Marina Markova also led the team in kills with 17 total. This isn’t quite comparable to her season high of 33 over Florida State, but she was the only SU player to record kills in the double digits.
Syracuse’s chances against Pitt are not over. The Orange take on the Panthers again next weekend at home. But, first comes Virginia. SU continues to travel this weekend when they take on UVA in Charlottesville this Sunday at noon.
aklaff@citrustv.net | @annieklaff
