Needing just one more point to finish off a straight-set win, Ella Saada received the serve from over the net, passing it perfectly to setter Jalissa Trotter, who laid the ball up behind her head for Anastasiya Gorelina to smash into the floor for the final kill of the match.

The ball control that head coach Leonid Yelin preaches to his team to improve on each and every practice and game was on full display in just those three shots. That one point is a microcosm for the reason the Orange have now won four consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference games. From handling serves to passing and finishing, Syracuse (13-6, 5-1 Atlantic Coast) played one of its cleanest games of the season Sunday afternoon, defeating Georgia Tech (7-10, 2-4), 3-0, in the Women’s Building, 25-18, 27-25, 25-19.

“Today we had one of our highest serve receiving percentages, and this provides stability for the team,” Yelin said. “This season, our serve receive is better and our passing is better.”

The turning point of the match was at the climax of the second set, when Syracuse was in danger of seeing its late lead evaporate. The Orange won six of seven points to take a 22-19 lead, then lost five of the next six and found itself down, facing set point. Thanks to clever attacking from Saada, who finished with a game-high 16 kills alongside Gorelina, the set was saved.

The freshman took advice of teammate Annie Bozzo and gently flipped the ball up and over Georgia Tech’s blockers to tie the set.

“I didn’t hear what Annie had told her, but you have to know when to be sure it’s going to work, and with the game on the line it takes a lot of guts to do it,” Yelin said. “Sometimes the difference between the set being over and not is thin.”

To close out the second set, Gorelina recorded back to back kills, burying the Yellow Jackets and sending Syracuse into the locker room up, 2-0. For the Orange, a weight was lifted off of its shoulders, enabling SU to relax and play its game in the final set.

“It takes a little bit more pressure off, knowing that while we still have to win another set,” middle blocker Santita Ebangwese said. “The game isn’t over, we have a lot more slack knowing that we have two games ahead.”

Despite the success the Orange has had since entering ACC play, Yelin insists the game plan has not changed. But Sunday, the execution of the game plan made all the difference.

“Our game plan is always the same,” Yelin said. “If it’s not broken, why change it?”

Published on October 8, 2017 at 5:59 pm

Contact Anthony: amdabbun@syr.edu | @AnthonyDabbundo