Another Disappointing Loss for SU Volleyball

Story and photos by Kelsey Snider

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Coming off a win against Boston College, the Syracuse Orange was swept by the NC State Wolfpack on Sunday in its second match of the Atlantic Coast Conference season (25-15, 25-18, 25-20).

It wasn’t a lack of skill that attributed to the loss, but a lack in mental focus, head coach Leonid Yelin said.

“The team didn’t show up, you know that’s all I can say because over one night people not losing skills,” Yelin said. “They mentally not prepared.”

Set 1:

The tone of this match was set early on when the Orange women (2-10, 1-1 ACC) made two service errors and an attack error giving theWolfpack (8-6, 1-1 ACC) a 7-3 lead. NC State seemed to have complete control of set one. The Wolfpack wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary that would shake up the Orange. The Orange players hurt themselves by having too many unforced errors.  

Set 2:

Going into set two, the Orange still didn’t seem to be focused. The first play was an unforced attack error. As the set went on, NC State’s passing started to break down, and Syracuse began to find a rhythm. Syracuse began to pull away with a five point run making the score 8-4.

But the Wolfpack started to come back into the game with kills flying past the Orange’s block.

Syracuse, which usually depends on its big block, had to rely on the floor defense. Without the block to work around, the floor defense had trouble picking up balls. Junior libero, Belle Sand, said when it comes to defense it comes down to communication and being able to read the attacker.

“As a young team we are, we just need to work on getting to our spot and that not being our set spot,” Sand said.

Again, NC State wasn’t doing anything special in its offense. When the Orange left a whole in the block or it was a one-on-one block, the Wolfpack seized the opportunity to kill.

Set 3:

It was back and forth for most of set 3. Syracuse and NC State hit the best in the third. The Orange hitting .231 and the Wolfpack hitting .464. Syracuse had a more consistent set with keeping the attacks and serves in play. However, their defensive game is what became the Orange's demise. NC State out-dug Syracuse 41 digs to 34 and out blocked Syracuse 7.5 blocks to 6.0.

Looking ahead:

The Orange hopes to find consistent mentality for the matches ahead.

“We emphasize a lot on you can’t just turn it on and off,” Sand said. “You got to keep it up and I feel like that’s something we have to focus on now for the next couple games.”

The Orange plays the Florida State Seminoles (9-2, 2-0 ACC), who are ranked 15^th in the nation, in Tallahassee on Friday, Sept. 30^th.