Season-High 18 Blocks Help Syracuse Defeat Wake Forest, 3-1

Friday, September 28

Winston-Salem, NC

6:30 pm

Syracuse University

7-4, 3-0ACC

Wake Forest

5-10, 0-3ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Syracuse	25	21	25	25	3
Wake Forest	19	25	17	21	1

Season-High 18 Blocks Help Syracuse Defeat Wake Forest, 3-1

9/28/2018 8:47:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – A season-high 18 blocks helped the Syracuse University volleyball team defeat Wake Forest, 3-1, Friday evening. Syracuse (7-4, 3-0 ACC) remains perfect in ACC play after defeating Wake Forest (4-8, 0-3 ACC) by set scores of 25-19, 21-15, 25-17 and 25-21. The victory is the seventh-straight over the Demon Deacons as Syracuse remains undefeated all-time against Wake Forest.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After using seven blocks to take the first set, Syracuse jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second. Wake quickly tied it up 5-5. After keeping it knotted at 13-13, the Demon Deacons took a 15-13 lead on a pair of errors from Syracuse. After the Orange tied it back up, Wake Forest used back-to-back kills to extend out to a 20-16 lead. Syracuse wasn't able to close the gap falling in the second set that featured nine ties and four lead changes.

Wake Forest used three consecutive kills to open the third set with a 7-5 lead. Syracuse responded with a 4-0 run that included back-to-back kills from Shemanova for a 9-7 lead. The Orange outscored Wake 12-3 to end the set.

The fourth set looked to be another close one as the teams had 15 ties and eight lead changes. Three-straight kills from Saada and Witherspoon pushed Syracuse ahead 17-15 for a lead they would not relinquish. Wake Forest tried to mount a comeback tying the set at 21 before the Orange closed it out with four-straight points.

OF NOTE
Santita Ebangwese recorded 13 kills on 18 attacks for a season-best .667 hitting percentage. Freshman Polina Shemanova put up her fifth 20+ kill performance of the season with a game-high 21 kills. Shemanova added nine digs and four blocks.

The team's 18 blocks are an ACC-best in four set matches as well as a team season-high, regardless of sets. The Orange led in every individual and team statistic.

UP NEXT
Syracuse takes the short trip to Duke for a Sunday matchup. The 1 p.m. contest will be broadcast on ACCN Extra.