Orange Volleyball Loses Two Conference Matches at Home

By Jessica Eley

Orange up for the block against Pittsburgh

Another weekend has come and gone and  brought two more losses for the Syracuse University volleyball team--this time at home to Miami and Pitt.

The team is now 0-6 in the ACC and in last place. The Orange is 7-11 overall.

At Sunday's game against Pitt, the stands were unusually packed and the Orange plainly were playing off the crowd's energy. But SU wasn't able to convert that energy into a win, losing 25-13, 17-25, 25-23,25-23.

"I think we deserved to win this game, but unfortunately it didn't happen," head coach Leonid Yelin said.

Yelin said his team has fought hard in every conference game and he couldn't be more proud.

Most of the sets the team has lost have been within five points.

The coach took offense when a reporter asked about his team's consistency. Gosia Wlaszcuk  then cut in, saying she didn't think there were enough small mistakes to make a difference in the outcome of the game.

"We were hustling for every ball, so it's like the last two points...we could finish winning or they could finish winning, both teams were playing really hard," Wlasczuk said.

As usual, SU shined in the blocking category during the weekend. The team collected 21 total blocks.

Wlasczuk the team's main setter said the team feels most comfortable when blocking.

"We know in which areas we're good," Wlaszcuk said. "We know we're good blockers and the best part is, we keep working hard on that, and also every element of volleyball."

Silvi Uattara reached the 1,000 career kills mark in Friday's game against Miami.

The Orange has two more games at home against Louisville and Wake Forest on Friday and Sunday, before going back on the road again.