One day after losing 3-0 to No. 3 BYU, Syracuse led No. 10 Southern California, 2-0.

In the third set, Syracuse fell behind 6-1 early and couldn’t recover. In the fourth, USC’s 15-4 lead proved insurmountable. And in the fifth, the Orange couldn’t flip the momentum and lost, 15-13. The next day, SU lost to their third ranked opponent in as many days, a 3-1 decision to No. 25 Marquette.

“We were right there with those teams, it wasn’t like they destroyed us,” senior middle blocker Santita Ebangwese said. “We were making them nervous.”

Less than a month later, the Orange (8-4, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) find themselves off to their best ACC start in program history, and enter this weekend as one of three undefeated teams in the conference.

On Friday, Syracuse matches up with No. 8 Pittsburgh (15-0, 4-0), a team they haven’t beaten since 2015. If the Orange are to upset their first ranked opponent since that same season, they will have to finish, something they’ve failed to do against top 25 teams this season.

“Pittsburgh will definitely come in with high confidence,” associate head coach Erin Little said. “For us to be able to match that, knowing the opponents that we faced and how we played against those will only help us here.”

Pittsburgh, one of two undefeated teams in the country, currently hold their highest ranking in program history. The Panthers enter Friday’s matchup winners of their last 13 ACC matches, dating back to last season.

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Through 12 matches in 2018, Syracuse has dominated the net defensively, posting a conference-best 2.8 blocks per game, but will have to defend against Pittsburgh’s front row, which tallies 14.4 kills per set, first in the ACC.

The keys for Syracuse are to serve aggressively, contain the balanced Pitt offense and be smart in how they set up their blocks, Little said.

“It goes back to the saying ‘Defense wins games,’” senior Amber Witherspoon said. “It’s good for them to be a good offensive team, but we’re going to try to come back with our defense and our blocks.”

Even if the Orange aren’t able to get the block, Ebangwese said, a strong game at the net allows Syracuse to set up their offense.

The return of redshirt senior Christina Oyawale has helped SU’s presence at the net. After an ankle injury forced her to miss seven matches, she returned in a Sept. 23 win over Clemson and finished second on the team with three blocks.

“(Oyawale) puts up a nice block,” Ebangwese said, “and she also deters some hitting outside, like bouncing balls and helping with the momentum.”

Facing a team that’s 35-5 at home since 2016, the Orange need to create their own momentum to eliminate Pitt’s home court advantage.

“We’re used to that (road) type of atmosphere … we’re used to being cheered against,” Witherspoon said. “We honestly thrive off of that. It’s like, ‘We’ll show you who we are … you’re going to know our name.’”

Despite their historic start, Syracuse knows that they have to clean up parts of their game, or as Ebangwese puts it, “dotting our I’s and crossing our T’s,” in order to continue their run.

“Some things we were able to get away with against Wake Forest,” she said, “we won’t be able to get away with against Pitt.”

Published on October 3, 2018 at 11:13 pm

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew