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On the first point of the fifth set, Blue Devils’ middle blocker Lizzie Fleming spiked the ball to the middle of the court in search of her 10th kill of the game. Sophomore outside hitter Viktoriia Lokhmanchuk dove to dig the ball, passing to Lauren Woodford, who set up Abby Casiano in the middle.

Casiano attacked the center of the court, and Duke setter Alex Springate tried to corral the SU sophomore’s effort with the tips of her hands before it hit the ground for a kill. But she couldn’t, and SU gained early momentum that led to a 15-12 win in the final set.

While it was Senior Day for the Orange, the underclassmen shined in Syracuse’s five-set win via sophomores Woodford, Casiano and Lokhmanchuk. Senior Ella Saada finished with just a .067 hitting percentage. But Syracuse’s (7-7, 7-7 Atlantic Coast) sophomores led the offense in the victory over Duke (9-11, 7-8).

When Lokhmanchuk came into the game to replace freshman Naomi Franco, who finished with eight kills of her own, Woodford always accompanied her.

Woodford recorded an assist on 12 of Lokhmanchuk’s 13 kills. The setter led the team with 25 assists, just one shy of her career high. Head coach Leonid Yelin said while he wanted to get reps for as many players as he could, the Lokhmanchuk-Woodford combination was made more out of necessity, as Syracuse’s usual setter, Elena Karakasi, was playing with a broken finger.

Lokhmanchuk carried SU for four sets, but Casiano was the one who took over in the end. After a long rally, Duke’s Gracie Johnson floated the ball back to Syracuse’s side. Yuliia Yastrub easily received the ball and passed it to Elena Karakasi, setting up Casiano in the middle. Casiano rose up and sent a spike to the middle of the court, causing Blue Devil libero Mackenzie Cole to dive. The ball hit the floor, and Casiano yelled loudly, cheering with her teammates.

Casiano had four kills in the final frame, pushing the Orange to victory. The sophomore middle blocker finished with 14 kills, 17 points and a hitting percentage of .414.

All three stats led the team as well, the first time Casiano has led all three this season. But it wasn’t just tangible results the sophomore was able to bring to the table against Duke.

“Coach (Yelin) likes to refer to me as the ‘energy leader,’” Casiano said. “So that’s pretty much my job … I go out there and look like a crazy person, but if we can get a few points off of my energy, I’ll take it.”

As the season winds down to its final week, the performances from Casiano and Lokhmanchuk are promising for SU’s future, Saada said. Despite her Senior Day stats being less than what she hoped for, Saada had nothing but praise for her underclassmen teammates.

“I think they are going to have a really good season next year,” Saada said. “And when Polina (Shemanova) and Marina (Markova) both return, I feel the team will have a really good future.”

Published on March 28, 2021 at 7:16 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com