SU volleyball to face No. 8 Penn State after first NCAA Tournament win over Yale

In their first match in the NCAA Tournament, the Syracuse women’s volleyball team (19-8) overtook Yale (19-5) to advance to the second round of the tournament. This is the first time in the 36-year program that the Orange have qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

The Orange took down the Bulldogs 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-16) after three players scored in double digits: Polina Shemanova (14.5), Santita Ebangwese (12.5) and Amber Witherspoon (12).

Shemanova also led the team in digs and kills with 12 each. Ebangwese also had 10 kills for Syracuse. As a team, the Orange only had 8 errors, opposed to Yale’s 20.

The Orange led much of the first set until a service ace from Yale’s Izzy Simqu tied the teams, 21-21. But Yale only went on to score one more point, while committing three errors to result in a guaranteed Syracuse win after one final kill by Shemanova.

The second set started with a back-and-forth game. Shortly into it, Yale was able to take a 13-8 lead over the Orange. An attack error by Yale’s Frances Arnautou tied the teams with 18 points each, and Syracuse was able to contain Yale to only three more points.

A kill from Syracuse redshirt senior middle blocker Christina Oyawale got the third set off to a hot start, and the Orange didn’t look back from there. Yale struggled to keep up with Syracuse, as the Orange scored 8 kills in a row. Another final kill from Shemanova brought the match to an end, with Syracuse sweeping all three wins.

Syracuse will face No. 8 and 7-time NCAA Tournament winner Penn State tomorrow at 7.p.m. in University Park. The game will be broadcast on Big 10 Network.