Volleyball Begins Midwest Road Trip at Louisville

SYRACUSE AT LOUISVILLE
Game Details: Friday, November 15 -- 7 p.m.
Location: Louisville, K.Y. | L&N Federal Credit Union Arena
Game Links: Watch | Live Stats
Television: ACC Network Extra
Twitter: @CuseVB
Syracuse Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats | Notes (PDF)
Louisville Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The final road trip of the season awaits Syracuse volleyball (10-11, 7-7 ACC), as the Orange will play rematches with Louisville and Notre Dame in their buildings. The Orange face the Cardinals on Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. and the Fighting Irish on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Syracuse defeated both Louisville and Notre Dame at home two weekends ago. On Nov. 1, the Orange beat the Irish in a 3-1 decision followed by a 3-2 win over the Cardinals on Nov. 3.

Friday's action is available to watch on ACC Network Extra. Fans can only watch if their cable provider carries the ACC Network. Those unsure if their provider carries ACCN are strongly encouraged to visit GetACCN.com.

MILESTONES WITHIN REACH
The next win for the Orange will be the 900th since the start of the volleyball program in 1972. Syracuse head coach Leonid Yelin is closing in on the 600 career-win mark in his 28th season as an intercollegiate coach. Yelin has a career record of 598-267 and is in his eighth year as head coach of the Orange, winning 118 matches. He spent 15 seasons as head coach of Louisville before coming to Syracuse.

DOING SOME DIGGING
Senior libero Aliah Bowllan has notched 88 digs in her last 16 sets played for an average of 5.5 per frame. She finished the victory against Louisville with a career-high 24 digs in five sets and followed that with 24 in four sets at Boston College. The Pittsford, N.Y. native missed five matches this season due to injury.

LAST TIME OUT
Syracuse traveled to Massachusetts to take on Boston College in a midweek matchup on Nov. 6 before returning home on Sunday to face Virginia Tech. 'Cuse took down BC in five sets where the Orange out-blocked the Eagles 15-6 in the match. Syracuse continued the momentum and powered its way to a three-set victory over Virginia Tech. The Orange have now won five consecutive conference matches with the two wins.

Orange sophomore Polina Shemanova was named ACC Player of the Week for the third week in a row after ending the weekend with 49 kills, 21 digs, four services aces and five blocks in eight sets. It was the first time a player has earned three straight ACC Player of the Week honors since 2015.

ALL-TIME VS. THE CARDINALS
Syracuse won the most recent meeting against Louisville this season, 3-2, at home. Shemanova set a new school record with 36 kills and Elena Karakasi notched a career-high 57 assists in the win. Louisville leads the all-time series against the Orange, 22-4 entering Friday's matchup. The first contest between the teams was in 1982 and Syracuse has won four of the last six contests.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
Louisville enters the match with a 16-8 record and a 9-5 mark in conference matches. The Cardinals most recently defeated Miami in a 3-2 road win before dropping a 1-3 decision to Florida State. Louisville has lost four of its last five matches.

The Cardinals combine for 120 services aces on the season while allowing only 103 to opponents. Alexis Hamilton leads the Louisville squad with 25 aces while teammates Tori Dilfer and Melanie McHenry each have 19.

Redshirt freshman right-side Aiko Jones leads the Cardinal offense with 324.5 points and 273 kills, good for eighth and 10th in the ACC, respectively.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Orange make the trip to South Bend to face off against Notre Dame Sunday at 1 p.m. for their final road match of the regular season. The match will be televised on the linear ACC Network.

For continued coverage of Syracuse volleyball, follow us on Twitter (@CuseVB), Instagram (@cusevb) and like us on Facebook (Syracuse Volleyball).

Volleyball Begins Midwest Road Trip at Louisville

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Players Mentioned

Aliah Bowllan

Elena Karakasi

Polina Shemanova

Syracuse University Athletics