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Yuliia Yastrub was two points away from securing the win for Syracuse. With the score tied 16-16 in the fifth set, Yastrub already had 14 kills on Friday night. One more would’ve given the senior SU’s most kills of the game against North Carolina.

Instead, she rose near the left side of the net but couldn’t get over the ball enough to spike into the ground. Her attack was too strong, and the ball floated out of bounds to give North Carolina a one-point lead. Outsider hitter Viktoriia Lokhmanchuk fired into the net, and the Tar Heels won.

Yastrub normally isn’t the Orange’s go-to hitter, though. For the past two seasons, it’s been middle blocker Marina Markova and outside hitter Polina Shemanova, who led the Orange in kills during the fall. Shemanova is still in Russia because of complications with her visa to return to the U.S, according to a post from her. Markova is still in St. Petersburg, Russia, too.

“We haven’t had them since we started practicing,” SU head coach Leonid Yelin said. “As much as we would love to have them on the team right now, we just have to move forward and prepare for a season.”

Going into the game, Syracuse (4-5, 4-5 Atlantic Coast) was ready to play without its two top scorers against North Carolina (8-3, 7-2). Syracuse finished with a hitting percentage of .188, including 21 errors, but forced the game into five sets in its narrow 3-2 loss. 

In the fifth set, neither team led by more than two points. Tied at 12-12, the two teams had a back-and-forth rally that included two strong hits from UNC setter Maylen Mitrovich. Elena Karakasi secured the point for SU on the third-chance, when her shot was deflected and Mitrovich was unable to reach for the ball. 

The momentum swung in Syracuse’s favor, and UNC called a timeout, but Yastrub’s error and Viktoriia Lokhmanchuk’s ensuing one buried the Orange. 

Initially, however, Syracuse’s offense seemed as efficient as it was in the fall. SU jumped out to a 7-1 lead that included a service ace from Yastrub. UNC head coach Joe Segula quickly called a timeout as the Syracuse lead grew. Outside hitter Ella Saada led the team in digs, total attacks, kills and points in the first set, and her presence at the net also resulted in an early block. 

Syracuse unblocked UNC 5-2 in the first set, an improvement from SU’s 2.5 average blocks per set from the first half of its season. 

“Blocking-wise, we spent a lot of time (during) practice,” Yastrub said. 

North Carolina tallied eight attack errors and a service error, while SU committed only three. UNC’s top hitters Parker Austin and Kaya Merkler committed four combined attack errors, the final one coming when Merkler overpowered a kill that flew out of bounds to end the set.

In the second set, however, Syracuse committed six more errors than UNC. The set started as a back-and-forth affair, with both teams scoring sequences of four points before allowing the other to come back. With the set tied at 17-17, the Tar Heels went on an 8-1 run and took the set. This run included five Syracuse attack errors and one ball-handling error. Austin capitalized on gaps in the Syracuse defense, notching six kills. 

North Carolina rode the momentum from the second set into the third as the Tar Heels jumped out to a 12-5 lead. The losses of Shemanova and Markova really started to show as Saada wasn’t getting the same looks as prior sets. The senior got blocked by UNC’s Aristea Tontai and Skyy Howard. Lokhmanchuk picked up four kills through the first two sets but was notably absent for nearly the entire third set. 

While some members of the Orange were struggling, middle blocker Abby Casiano led the way in the latter stages of the match. With a team-leading .481 hitting percentage, the sophomore was visibly fired up and picked up five kills in the fourth set alone. 

Despite being down multiple times in the set and giving up big leads to the Tar Heels, the Orange went on a 10-2 run midway through the game and a 6-1 run late in the game. Saada, who hadn’t got as many kills as she did earlier, ended the set with a kill that was just out of reach from UNC libero Ryan Shannon.

In the second set, Naomi Franco was set up for a kill by Lauren Woodford, but the shot was too strong, and it just went out of bounds. After the error, UNC went on a six-point run that proved crucial. Ultimately, on Friday, it was the attack errors and the .188 hitting percentage that buried the Orange down the stretch.

Published on March 5, 2021 at 9:44 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com