Syracuse volleyball rides hot start to four-set win against NC State

Hot start pushes SU volleyball past NC State in four sets

Attack errors plague the Wolfpack in loss Sunday afternoon.
Published: October 21, 2018

Syracuse women’s volleyball looked like it had an easy path to an 8-2 ACC record after its hot start against North Carolina State. The Wolfpack clawed back to make the match more interesting but ultimately could not keep pace as the Orange defended their home court with a 3-1 victory Sunday afternoon.

The first set began with a 10-0 Syracuse run. Senior Jalissa Trotter played a pivotal role in setting a strong offensive tone. She registered six assists and two service aces before NC State could score a point. When the dust settled from a 25-9 Syracuse win, Trotter had 11 assist, two aces, and one kill.

“I came into this game ready to play, really focused on what I needed to do to help the team,” Trotter said.

The second set did not go as smoothly. The Wolfpack never trailed as Syracuse struggled to get into an offensive rhythm. The Orange came as close as 18-19 but scored just four points the rest of the way. NC State took the second game 25-22. The duo of Teni Sopitan and Jade Parchment had seven kills apiece.

After Syracuse secured a third set victory, the home team took the momentum into the fourth and final set. Just as they had done to start the match, the Orange held NC State scoreless to start the final stanza, going up 6-0 before the Wolfpack could score.

NC State did themselves no favors in a 25-23 fourth set loss, committing five attack errors in the first six points. They ended the frame with 11 attack errors. For the match, the Wolfpack committed 30 total attack errors to Syracuse’s 18. Head coach Leonid Yelin said this was a product of NC State’s nerves, rather than anything his team did to cause these mistakes.

“Most of the errors were not skill, they were mental errors,” Yelin said. “You can’t plan someone doing errors.”

Freshman phenom Polina Shemanova continued her offensive tear with 21 total kills. Six came in the third set win, the last of which capped off Syracuse’s 25-20 win. She now has 329 kills on the year.

Syracuse will go on a two-game road trip to face Notre Dame (11-8) and Louisville (16-5). The Orange’s next home game is Oct. 31 against Boston College (13-9)