Shemanova's Historic Performance Leads Orange Past Cardinals

Sunday, November 3

Syracuse, NY

1 pm

Syracuse University

8-11,5-7ACC

Louisville

15-7,8-4ACC

Louisville

Syracuse

Shemanova's Historic Performance Leads Orange Past Cardinals

11/3/2019 5:17:00 PM | Volleyball

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – A school record 36 kills by Polina Shemanova propelled the Syracuse volleyball (8-11, 5-7 ACC) over Louisville (15-7, 8-4 ACC) Sunday afternoon. The Orange beat the Cardinals, 3-2, after losing the opening set, 25-23. 'Cuse won by scores of 28-26, 25-20, and 15-6 to capture their third straight conference victory. Louisville received nine votes in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches' Poll and were ranked #24 in the RPI.

Elena Karakasi notched a career-high 57 assists and nine digs in the win, and Ella Saada recorded 16 kills with 24 digs for the Orange.

Aiko Jones lead the Louisville offense with 18 kills before leaving the match early with an injury.

The win was the fourth in program history in 26 meetings between the teams. The Orange won the last meeting with the Cardinals in 2018, 3-2, on the road.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Syracuse and Louisville matched points in the early portion of the opening set before the Cardinals took advantage of Orange attack errors and opened a 13-9 lead. A 3-0 run by Syracuse, thanks to a pair of kills by Shemanova, brought them within two, but a kill by Anna Stevenson kept the Cardinals ahead. Syracuse out-killed Louisville 17-13, but the Cardinals still claimed the win, 25-23. Shemanova paced the Orange with nine kills.

Fired up by the first set loss, Syracuse went on a 4-0 run to start the set. Louisville strung points together to erase its deficit to 18-17. Trailing 26-25, Shemanova recorded two kills and the Cardinals had an attack error that carried the Orange to the 28-26 victory.

Syracuse carried its momentum into the third set, holding the Cardinals to just 10 kills and a .086 hitting percentage in the winning effort. The Orange jumped out to an early 5-1 advantage and led by as many as nine points. Karakasi continued to fire off sets to Shemanova and Saada, and provided the winning kill, to take the set, 25-20. Abby Casiano contributed four of her seven kills in the third.

Louisville tested the Syracuse defense early in the fourth, taking a quick 14-6 lead. A big block by Shemanova and Abby Casiano kept the game close to shorten the damage, 16-12, and the Orange would tighten the Cardinal lead to two. Syracuse continued its fight before an Emily Scott kill put the set away for the Cardinals and forced a fifth stanza.

High Syracuse energy and two attack errors by Claire Chaussee carried the Orange to an 8-2 lead in the final stanza. 'Cuse came away with the set, 15-6. The Orange did not register an error in the final frame, and a Saada kill clinched the third straight ACC win for the squad.

NOTEWORTHY
Shemanova's 36 kills set a new Syracuse record for kills in a match. Cheryl Cobbina's 34 kills against Temple in 2006 was the previous record. The sophomore captain also broke the school record in total attempts with 78. It was her ninth double-double of the season, and third in a row, as she logged 17 digs as well.

Casiano's seven kills tied her season and career-high, and her five blocks was a new season-high for the freshman.

After setting a career-high with 22 digs in Friday's win over Notre Dame, Aliah Bowllan topped that with 24 digs in the victory over the Cardinals. Saada also posted 24 digs in the match, tying her career-high from a 2017 win over Albany.

WHAT'S NEXT
Syracuse heads to Massachusetts for a midweek conference matchup against Boston College on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 5 p.m. The Orange return home for the second match of the week on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 12 p.m. against Virginia Tech for Military Appreciation Day.

Both matches will be televised on ACC Network Extra, and admission and parking to all home matches is free.

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