Monika Salkute pounded her ninth kill of the game into the floor of the Syracuse Women’s Building, ending the fourth set, and ultimately, the match.

Syracuse opened up Atlantic Coast Conference play Friday night against Boston College. SU and BC went back and forth in a four-set thriller, with the Orange ultimately coming out on top.

The SU (10-2, 1-0 ACC) frontline kept up with the high-powered BC (8-5, 0-1) offense, blocking nearly every hit that came its way, and sending kills back at them.

SU head coach Leonid Yelin said that having so much height up front helped the Orange limit the BC kills. The Orange boasts seven players 6 feet or taller, and came into the game second in the ACC in blocks per set (2.8).

On the other side of the ball, the BC trio of Anna Skold, Katty Workman, and Julia Topor kept firing shots at the SU line. While the Orange blocked most of the hits, the three hitters landed enough spikes in the paint to do damage. They combined for 30 kills in the BC loss.

On the offensive side, Nicolette Serratore led the way for the Orange, converting 13 kills and three aces in the victory.

The Orange and Eagles went back and forth in set one, playing to a 15-14 score in favor of SU before BC called a timeout.

The two teams came out of the timeout locked in a competitive set. SU pushed the score to 24-24, but ultimately dropped the set 26-24 on an unforced error that missed BC’s backline by inches.

The Orange didn’t hold the lead in the second set until late, as BC rode a wave of kills from Workman. However, the Orange kept the set close, tying the Eagles three separate times, before pulling ahead 22-21. From there, the Orange continued the push, eventually taking the second set, 25-21.

The Orange comeback in set two started a rally that continued the rest of the game.

After going back and forth for the first few points of the third set, SU dialed it in, converting kill after kill.

An ace from sophomore Belle Sand sealed the set for the Orange at 25-10, and they headed into the fourth set up two to one.

“We just focus on where we want to place the ball,” Sand said, “And ending a (set) with an ace, we were all just really pumped for the fourth set.”

Set four started in the Orange’s favor again, as it drove the score to 10-5 with little response from the Eagles.

The trio piled on the kills for SU, sending shot after shot past the BC defense, and ending with a combined 33 kills.

“It’s when you do everything in a game that you did in practice,” sophomore Leah Levert said, “Every time I go, I just think, I have to do this for my team.”

BC came within two points later in the set, but the Eagles were never able to take the lead. A Salkute kill ended the set at 25-18, and the Orange took the match.

“It’s the ACC,” Yelin said. “It’s great to start off with a win.”

Published on September 25, 2015 at 11:05 pm

Contact Matt: mjfel100@syr.edu