Zoe Guzman couldn’t hold back tears as she embraced Samantha Hinz in the Carrier Dome media room.

Syracuse had lost close games all season by blowing leads and making mental errors.  After losses in the first two sets to Seton Hall on Sunday, Guzman and Hinz thought their last match would end in another disappointment. That was before the Orange won the last three sets with an energetic performance on Senior Day in the Carrier Dome.

For Guzman and Hinz, their final match at Syracuse couldn’t have played out any better.

“To have it in the Dome, be my last game, our last Big East game — it just all came together and it’s very surreal,” Hinz said.

Guzman and Hinz took the Carrier Dome floor with their families before the match in the traditional Senior Day procession.

Once the match started, though, the magic of Senior Day vanished. Seton Hall outplayed the Orange in the first two sets, and Hinz admitted she was nervous.

“Honestly, I was a little worried,” Hinz said. “I had a moment in my head when I was like, ‘This is it. This is it.’”

Guzman said the losses in the first two sets were a “slap in the face.” She said the performance didn’t reflect the Orange’s potential, and a three-set loss wasn’t the way she wanted to go out.

The Orange looked energized and enthusiastic in support of its seniors after the second set.

“We were very excited and we found the fire. We came together as a team,” Guzman said. “When we got a point or made a mistake, everyone was there for you. It was just awesome.”

Guzman and Hinz played well in their final match. Guzman, who spent much of the season on the bench behind sophomore Melina Violas, got the start and played in the majority of all five sets, tallying a game-high 31 digs.

“I wasn’t thinking about the rest of the season,” Guzman said. “I knew I was getting this opportunity, and I really just wanted to redeem myself. I was pumped.”

Hinz admitted she didn’t find her game until the third set. But once she got into a groove, Hinz made big plays for the Orange.

Hinz made a kill in a competitive fourth set to give the Orange a 27-25 win. Seton Hall floated a lazy ball over the net and she sent it to the floor with two hands.

“It’s always awesome to do that, especially in a game like this,” Hinz said.

Syracuse head coach Leonid Yelin said Guzman and Hinz played well in the Orange’s comeback. He said he’s seen seniors lose focus under the emotions of their last game, but Guzman and Hinz remained focused and channeled their emotions positively in the match’s last three sets.

“Sometimes the emotions will make you react faster or play better,” Yelin said. “But they did what they had to do to help the team win today.”

This victory ends a disappointing season on a positive note. For Guzman, the match showed her how she’s grown in her senior year. Though Guzman and her teammates have struggled this year, she was satisfied with Sunday’s conclusion.

“I think I’ve grown so much mentally and physically over the course of this season,” Guzman said. “And because we beat them, they’re not going to the Big East tournament. The odds were against us, but we beat them.”

Published on November 12, 2012 at 12:00 am

Contact Jacob: jspramuk@syr.edu