Volleyball Records Programs First ACC Win

Friday, October 11

Charlottesville, VA

7 p.m.

Syracuse University

6-11, 1-4ACC

Virginia

9-8, 2-3ACC

Syracuse

Virginia

Lindsay McCabe's 12 total blocks against Virginia moves her into a tie for eighth all-time in program history with 364.

10/11/2013 10:20:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score | Season Statistics

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Behind a balanced attack and team effort, Syracuse notched their first Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) win in program history with a 3-1 victory at Virginia on Friday, Oct. 11 in Memorial Gymnasium.

"It was a good win. Every win is nice, especially after four really tough losses," said head coach Leonid Yelin. "We were anxious for a win so bad."

Syracuse (6-11, 1-4 ACC) dropped the first set, but took over from there, winning the next three sets (15-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-19) over Virginia (9-8, 2-3 ACC) to snap a five-game losing streak. Over the final three sets, SU hit at a clip of .411 after being held to just .042 in the first.

Six Orange women tallied at least five kills, with none of them finishing with more than nine. Redshirt junior Lindsay McCabe had a career night, with a personal-best 12 blocks (three solo) and a .583 hitting percentage on eight kills. Sophomore Silvi Uattara led the team with nine kills and added eight digs.

Gosia Wlaszczuk and Valeriya Shaipova also recorded eight kills apiece. Wlaszczuk compiled a .412 attack percentage with nine digs, four aces and four block assists while Shaipova finished with a hitting percentage of .313, five block assists and six digs. Freshman setter Erica Handley passed out 38 assists and junior Melina Violas had a team-high 10 digs.

Virginia recorded the first three points in the opening set and never trailed on their way to a 25-15 win, behind a .522 hitting clip. SU was able to close the gap to one on multiple occasions, the last coming at 12-11, following a 4-1 run that featured three kills from junior Nicolette Serratore. The Cavaliers responded with seven straight points for a 19-11 advantage with two kills and a block from Tori Janowski and the Orange got no closer than eight the rest of the way.

"We had a good game plan, but couldn't execute in the first set. We regrouped and our serve receive got better and our game plan really work for us," said Yelin.

Both teams were locked in a heated battle to begin the second set, with four ties in the early goings. With Syracuse clinging to a 10-8 lead, the Orange used a 9-2 run for their largest advantage of the set at 19-11. The teams exchanged five sideouts and Virginia rattled off the next four points to get within 21-17. However, behind a .440 hitting percentage, Syracuse closed out the set, scoring the last two points.

Picking up right where they left off, SU opened up an 8-3 lead in the third set and never looked back. Virginia climbed to within 13-12, only to see the Orange pull away on a 9-2 run again to go up 22-14 thanks to four blocks from McCabe.

Scoring five of the first six points, the Cavaliers grabbed an early lead in the fourth set. SU tied the set for the first time at 10-10 and again twice more shortly after. Trailing 19-17, Syracuse ended the match by tallying the final eight points, capped by an ace from Wlaszczuk. In the final set, McCabe posted four kills and three blocks as the Orange registered a .500 hitting percentage.

For the match, the Orange outhit Virginia .320 to .226 and held a 17-6.5 advantage in blocks.

Janowski led all players with 16 kills for the Cavaliers while Lauren Fuller (46 assists) and Emily Rottman (10 digs) also had game-highs.

Syracuse continues their road swing at Virginia Tech on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m.