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Syracuse outside hitter Yuliia Yastrub returned the serve and passed it to teammate Lauren Woodford. The setter then passed it back to Yastrub, who spiked the ball thunderously. But her attempt was just wide, and the point went to Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons were now only two points down and had all the momentum after never leading by more than one point.

Yastrub immediately responded with strong back-to-back scoring attempts. The second attempt was deflected by two WF players, shifting the momentum back to the Orange. Yastrub’s scoring opportunity sparked a lagging Syracuse offense to an 8-1 run to end the set and cement a win over Wake Forest.

Syracuse (6-7, 6-7 Atlantic Coast) dominated Wake Forest (0-13, 0-12) on offense throughout Friday afternoon in its best offensive match of the spring season. The Orange recorded a .327 hitting percentage — the highest mark of the season’s second half — compared to WF’s hitting percentage of .110. Syracuse also outkilled the Demon Deacons 44-28 in its 3-0 sweep over Wake Forest. The win was Syracuse’s first sweep victory in the spring and only the second victory for the Orange this month.

During the 8-1 run, outside hitter Ella Saada tallied three kills, and middle blocker Abby Casiano had two. Sophomore right-side hitter Naomi Franco ended the set with a kill that Wake Forest was unable to return.

Despite the dominating performance, SU head coach Leonid Yelin kept things in perspective.

“I think our players hit and played better,” Yelin said. “But looking at the record of Wake Forest, that’s not the best team in the conference, and I think that helped in our victory as well.”

While Wake Forest is winless this season, the Orange built momentum with stellar offensive performances from Saada and Casiano.

Saada led the team with 14 kills and 16 points, finishing the match with a .423 hitting percentage. This is the second time this season the senior ended with a hitting percentage over .400, the first coming against Boston College in October.

While most of her kills came from setter Elena Karakasi, Saada also had three of her kills assisted by Lauren Woodford. The sophomore setter, who’s had sporadic amounts of playing time, was able to put up her best performance in the spring season. Woodford tallied 11 assists and scored 2 1/2 points.

“I think it was pretty good, considering I had not practiced with Lauren,” Saada said. “But it wasn’t the first I played with her, so we still have it.”

While Woodford only scored 2 1/2points, they couldn’t have come at a better time. The first kill came early in the third set with Wake Forest up 3-2.

Demon Deacon libero Annabelle Daly served, and Yastrub got the dig and passed it to Woodford. The sophomore used a set dump, bypassing the setting and shooting over the net herself. Woodford’s set dump tied the game at three in the third and final set.

Down by two midway through the final set, Syracuse went on a 9-2 run to secure the lead. And with the score 23-19 and the Demon Deacons trying to stay alive, Woodford pulled off another set dump, moving the Orange one point away from victory.

Casiano had another commendable performance for SU, totaling 12 kills and 11 1/2 points — both season highs — for a three-set match. The sophomore ended the match with a .583 hitting percentage. In five spring matches played, Casiano has had a hitting percentage higher than .250 in four of them — more than any other roster player.

Down 15-13 in the third set, Casiano forcefully spiked the ball over the net. The ball was deflected by Wake Forest’s Daly and flew back and out of bounds. Wake Forest’s poor deflection and Casiano’s spike ignited the run that secured victory for the Orange.

“Sometimes, you go, and you hit as hard as you can and hope it works out,” Casiano said. “Other times, you show one direction and swing the other, and you just have to keep the defense on their toes.”

Published on March 26, 2021 at 9:13 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com