Before Friday, when Anastasiya Gorelina registered more than 10 kills, Syracuse owned a 9-1 record. Even when Gorelina hammered home nine first-set kills, it was not enough to propel the Orange to victory.

Syracuse came out firing and posted its third highest hitting percentage of the season but fell short as Pittsburgh (14-4, 7-0 Atlantic Coast) downed the Orange (14-7, 6-2) in three straight sets on Friday afternoon in the Women’s Building.

An efficient day of offense for SU was wasted, as they faltered at the end of the first two sets and failed to capitalize on opportunities. After losing 3-1 in Pittsburgh, the Orange improved offensive efficiency by 56 points. But it still was not enough to hand the Panthers its first loss in conference play.

In the opening set, Gorelina converted on nine of her 13 attack attempts with no errors, for a hitting percentage of .692. Eventually, the Pitt defense adjusted to Gorelina’s attack success, and held her to seven kills on 17 attempts over the final two sets.

The Orange offense cooled off after a hitting percentage of .483 in the opening set, finishing below .250 in the ensuing sets. As the Pittsburgh blockers forced SU hitters into more difficult shots, the attacks become more inaccurate.

“As a hitter, if you’re not making adjustments, changing time, direction, and distance, you’re bringing them to the right spot,” SU head coach Leonid Yelin said. “When you use different kinds of shots, that’s when it’s hard to make adjustments.”

Because of Gorelina’s powerful hits, the Panthers’ backline adjusted. That led to a comeback in the first two sets and a  sizable lead to open the third.

“In the first game, she had 9 points,” Yelin said. “As the game is progressing they are making adjustments, and they are getting used to the timing and where you’re hitting.”

After watching film from the first loss to Pitt, the Orange noticed that it could try to exploit deficiencies within the Panthers’ defense. Ebangwese noted that the Panthers defense was a little “shallow” and that deeper tips would be more successful. She added the Panthers don’t block line as well, a point of attack for the Orange.

Ebangwese finished with 10 kills on 18 attempts, with five coming in the final set, and two on deep tips into the back corner. While SU tried to exploit the Pitt deficiencies, it struggled to neutralize the Pitt attack.

While SU opponents’ hitting percentages are down significantly this season, Pittsburgh diverted the trend, registering a .388 attack percentage. Five Panthers players recorded at least seven kills and both Nika Markovic and Stephanie Williams registered 14 kills each.

Despite all of the efficiency from Gorelina, Ebangwese and the Orange offense, the Panthers found a way to fight back and pull away with the game.

“We didn’t stop two of their key players unfortunately, and they got huge numbers,” Yelin said. “The stats don’t show the importance of those points because she got them when they really needed them.”

Published on October 13, 2017 at 5:29 pm

Contact Anthony: amdabbun@syr.edu | @AnthonyDabbundo