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In Syracuse’s second set against Pittsburgh, Serena Gray’s serve hit the very top of the net as SU’s defenders stayed back, ready to field a ball sent to the center or backcourt. The ball rolled off the top of the net and took a small leap straight in the air. Then it fell straight down, grazing the net on its way before just barely landing on Syracuse’s side. 

Setter Elena Karakasi ran after it at the last minute but couldn’t quite reach it. She rolled her eyes, looked back at her teammates and shrugged after the point gave Pitt a 16-5 lead. 

Syracuse (15-10, 4-9 Atlantic Coast) lost to third-ranked Pittsburgh (21-2, 11-2 ACC) in three sets on Friday, and it has now dropped eight of its last nine games. SU middle blocker Marina Markova shined again with 17 kills, which accounted for over half of Syracuse’s total as a team.

No team captured more than a one-point lead in the first set until Markova went for a kill that went far out the back right of Pittsburgh’s side, putting the score at 11-9 in the Panthers’ favor. From there, every time Pittsburgh got a small lead, the Orange were able to tie it up. The set was tied 17 times and saw seven lead changes. 

At the end of the set, Karakasi fed Markova the ball shortly after a Pittsburgh serve. Markova jumped high in the air, and it looked like she was going to deliver a hard-hit, cross-court kill. But she saw the defense shifting to the right and gently placed the ball just in front of the net on the left side. Three Pittsburgh players dived to get it, but they all missed and the score was tied at 19. 

Pitt’s two errors kept SU in the game, but it closed the set out with a series of kills. Panthers outside hitter Kayla Lund hit a rocket of a ball to the middle of Syracuse’s side, where no defenders were close, and Pittsburgh took the set 25-23.

The second set was never competitive. The Panthers were quickly up 12-3 after six quick kills. By the time Pittsburgh was up 21-6, the Orange had tallied eight attack errors. Then Pitt scored a kill from the right side that went diagonally across the Orange’s defense and just painted the back left corner. The Panthers won the second set 25-15 as Syracuse seriously struggled on offense with just a .047 hitting percentage.

After the Orange went up 2-0 in the third set on a Markova kill that lofted over the first line of the Panthers’ defense, Pittsburgh separated and gained a 13-5 lead, fueled by nine Panthers’ kills and another series of attack errors by the Orange as they tried to block an onslaught of spikes. The two teams alternated with kills on the last eight points of the game as Syracuse tried to make the score closer. But powerhouse Pitt recorded a 25-13 set win while recording a .484 hitting percentage

Pitt and Syracuse will face off again in just a week in the Women’s Building, following SU’s matchup against Virginia on Sunday. 

Published on November 5, 2021 at 10:42 pm

Contact Matthew: mahassan@syr.edu