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Syracuse wrapped up its road trip to North Carolina with a matchup against Duke. The Orange had won 12 straight games to start the season but fell to North Carolina Friday. SU tried bouncing back against Duke Sunday, though it fell 3-1.

In the first set, Syracuse got out to an 11-8 lead after a kill from Ava Palm. SU’s lead was cut to 13-12, but Duke proceeded to go on a 6-0 run to take control of the set. Duke often found the soft spots in Syracuse’s defense, taking advantage to create easy kills. Duke won the first set 25-20 after one of Rylie Kadel’s 12 kills.

The Blue Devils and Orange traded blows to start the second set. Syracuse had a couple of service errors and Duke took the lead at 17-15. Two kills from Anastasiia Nikolnikova, a kill from Waller, an error and a Skylar George ace capped off a 5-0 run that gave Syracuse a 20-17 lead. Palm wrapped up the second set with an ace and kill as Syracuse won 25-20.

Syracuse started off the third set hot, taking a 5-3 lead, but Duke quickly took control. The set went back and forth as the net was heavily contested. Duke took a 19-15 lead and looked to wrap up the third set. Syracuse cut the lead to one after a Sydnie Waller kill. Duke’s Kerry Keefe took matters into her own hands with two of her 21 kills to secure the third set for the Blue Devils, who won it 25-21.

Duke carried its momentum into the fourth set going up 5-1 quickly. The Blue Devils kept the Orange at arm’s length for the rest of the set. An error from George capped off the fourth set as Duke strolled on to win 25-17.

Though Syracuse lost, it broke its three-game streak of not winning a set in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Waller had a strong outing, recording seven kills after not playing in the last three matches. Elizabeth Schuster played for the first time since getting injured in SU’s first game against NJIT. Schuster played well setting and on defense, recording 24 assists and seven digs. Schuster was one of the three setters Syracuse featured including Mira Ledermueller and Veronica Sierzant.

Syracuse received solid contributions from their middle blockers as they played well at the net. Harris-Waddy recorded seven block assists with four kills. Nikolnikova recorded 10 kills on 18 attacks, the best percentage on the team. Palm and George both recorded 12 kills on 39 attacks but combined for 12 errors.

Nikki Shimao in her second game of the year played all four sets after playing just one on Friday. Shimao tallied eight digs and was the primary libero as Emma Ortiz and Greta Schlichter both only played two sets.

Published on September 29, 2024 at 6:14 pm

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