The Orange successfully swept North Carolina State in their final match of a four-game road trip. Polina Shemanova was vital to the team’s victory, recording 22 kills with only three attacking errors to end the team’s three-game losing streak.

Syracuse (6-11, 3-7 Atlantic Coast) appeared more dynamic than usual on offense — in addition to Shemanova’s typical heroics, Yuliia Yastrub, Ella Saada and Abby Casiano recorded eight, six and four kills, respectively. Though NC State (8-14, 3-7) led for large portions of the game, the Orange bounced back to win all three sets.

In the first set, Syracuse trailed early on before eventually tying up the set at 16-16. Attacking and service errors ultimately lost the Wolfpack that set — in the entire match, NC State recorded 18 attacking errors and 10 service errors. Plagued with errors in past games, the Orange were glad to have limited themselves to only seven during Sunday’s victory. Kills from Kendra Lukacs, Shemanova and Yastrub, paired with an NC State service error gifted Syracuse a 25-21 first set victory. 

Continuous kills from Shemanova and Yastrub, who recorded a season-high eight kills on Sunday, kept the Orange in the second set. With the score tied at 12-12, Syracuse took the lead and held onto it for the remainder of the set, though it was close. A service error from setter Elena Karakasi nearly cost the Orange at a critical moment at the end of the set, but Casiano secured the 25-23 win with a kill. 

Karakasi, the usual and reliable setter who leads the Orange with 491 assists this season, was forced to share time with freshman setter Lauren Woodford. The two both appeared in all three sets and each recorded 18 assists.

The Wolfpack self-destructed in the final set with seven errors, including two consecutive attacking errors on the final two points of the match. Two kills from Karakasi on her only two attacks of the game helped force a set-point, allowing her team to win the final set 26-24.

Next weekend, the Orange return home and face Notre Dame and No. 23 Louisville on Friday and Sunday, respectively.