Syracuse Earns Four-Set Win At Wake

Saturday, November 2

Winston-Salem, NC

6:30 p.m.

Syracuse University

11-13, 6-6ACC

Wake Forest

15-9, 4-8ACC

Syracuse

Wake Forest

Sophomore Silvi Uattara's 24 kills was the most by a Syracuse player this season and one off her career-high (25)

11/2/2013 9:05:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score | Season Statistics

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Syracuse volleyball team returned to the win column with a four set victory at Wake Forest on Saturday, Nov. 2 at Reynolds Gym. The Orange (11-13, 6-6 ACC) has won six of its past eight matches to get back to .500 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

SU rallied to win the first set and continued that momentum into the second to take a 2-0 lead in the match. After Wake Forest (15-9, 4-8 ACC) regrouped to claim the third set, Syracuse held off a potential Demon Deacons run to win the match (27-25, 25-15, 19-25, 25-21).

Sophomore Silvi Uattara finished with a season-high 24 blocks, one off her career high and the most by an SU player this season. Uattara also had a match-best .391 hitting percentage on 46 swings. Junior Nicolette Serratore recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 15 kills and 12 digs.

Redshirt junior Lindsay McCabe was a force at the net, having a hand in nine of the Oranges 14.5 team blocks. McCabe became the seventh Orange woman in SU volleyball history to record 400 career blocks, and now has 406. Junior Melina Violas' team-best 17 digs marked the ninth consecutive match she has reached double-figures. Setters freshman Erica Handley and junior Bailey Humes combined for 44 assists, with Humes dishing out a career-high 19.

With SU on top 8-6 in the opening set, the Demon Deacons went on a 7-2 run to grab a 13-10 advantage. Wake Forest pushed its lead to 23-19 before Syracuse recorded the next five points on back-to-back blocks from McCabe and senior Samantha Clarey, followed by a pair of kills from Serratore to get to set point at 24-23. After the 'Deacs tallied the next two scores for set point, Serratore and Uattara smacked kills and McCabe and Clarey teamed up for the third time for a block to give the Orange the first set.

Syracuse had little trouble with Wake Forest in the second, taking the set 25-15 behind a hitting percentage of .441 with 17 kills. Ahead by a score of 7-5, Uattara notched three kills during a 6-0 run to give the Orange a 13-5 lead. SU took its largest lead at 22-10 and Uattara closed out the frame with her seventh kill of the set.

In a tightly contested third set, neither team led by more than one until the Demon Deacons rattled off three straight points to break a 14-14 tie and go up 17-14. During that time, Syracuse and Wake Forest were tied 14 times with four lead changes. The Demon Deacons maintained its three-point lead at 22-19 before another three-score spurt won the set for the home team to extend the match to a fourth set.

The Orange registered the first four points of the fourth set and never trailed on its way to claiming the match. Leading 8-6, Syracuse added to its lead by tallying seven of the next nine points to go up 15-8 behind a kill and two blocks from McCabe. Wake Forest made things interesting down the stretch closing the gap to 21-19. However, Uattara smacked two more kills for the Orange to secure the victory.

Syracuse's team hitting percentage of .305 was the third highest output of conference play. The SU defense also limited Wake Forest to just .183, the second lowest an ACC opponent has hit against the Orange this season.

Kristin Grissom led the way for the Demon Deacons with 14 kills on a .379 attack percentage while adding five digs and two blocks. Megan Miller chipped in on the defensive end with a match-high 22 digs.

Syracuse will close out the Carrier Dome portion of its 2013 slate against Notre Dame on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.