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As Alyssa Bert got ready to serve the ball, you could hear a pin drop in the gym. The ball was sent back to the Orange with the game tied at 17-17 in the fifth set, and Riley Hoffman made a diving play with the ball inches from touching the floor.

The ball eventually found its way back to Bert, who had no choice but to spike it back. Sophia Lambros then couldn’t handle the ball as it fell into the net, giving Syracuse match point.

Once again, the ball found Bert when BC returned her serve, who set the ball to Lauren Woodford. Bert gave Viktoriia Lokhmanchuk a chance to put the game away, but Lokhmanchuk’s spike was mishandled by Alayna Crabtree and the ball hit the ground, ending the match.

Syracuse (5-6, 1-0 ACC) opened up ACC play with a win in five sets over Boston College (11-3, 0-1 ACC), after losing a 5-set match against Bryant last week. The Orange battled and showed resilience after facing multiple match points in the final set.

The first set didn’t go as planned for SU as Boston College dominated every aspect of the game. Boston College used its fast paced offense to attack Syracuse as Sophia Lambros set up Alayna Crabtree for a spike on the left side of the court to put BC up 11-7. Lambros once again set up one of her teammates, this time Jenna Pollock. BC took a commanding 17-10 lead, allowing it to win the set 25-13.

Despite their first set struggles, the Orange stuck remained unfazed in the second set. SU turned things around. Bre Walp slammed the ball into the middle of the floor to give them a 23-13 lead.

“How we reacted was great, that’s something we’re doing now that we have not done maybe a week ago,” head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said.

Still a relatively new team, Syracuse stuck together through the adversity that they have faced often this season.

“We have a lot of players from all different directions,” Ganesharatnam said. “So we have to make a conscious effort to come together to connect physically, mentally, and we did that tonight.”

Syracuse continued its momentum into the third set, scoring seven out of eight points to give SU a 18-11 lead. Polina Shemanova and Lokhmanchuk were aggressive in their attacks, forcing BC to be on the defensive. A service error gave SU set point, where Shemanova dove on the floor and guided the ball to Bert. Bert set up a Lokhmanchuk kill to end the third set 25-18.

BC stormed back in the fourth, putting Syracuse on the backfoot from the start. Lambros cushioned a ball up for Silvia Ianeselli, who slammed the ball just out of the reach of a diving Shemanova to put BC up 13-8. Lambros would finish off the set 25-15 with an ace on a ball that Bert misjudged.

Heading into the fifth set and final set, the Orange kept repeating that they had to stay tough mentally and not get down on themselves if they lost a point.

“We kept this mentality of fighting for one point,” Shemanova said. “You don’t get two points or three points at a time.”

Syracuse and Boston College went back and forth in the fifth set, each team failing to capitalize on two match points. Even when they were down to match point, Syracuse stayed mentally tough, something they learned after losing to Bryant on Friday in 5 sets.

“We knew coming in, we’re undefeated,” Ganesharatnam said. “All we have to do is make sure we stay undefeated.”

Published on September 22, 2022 at 12:48 am

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