Syracuse drops first conference game in 3-1 loss to Louisville

It was too little too late for Syracuse against Louisville, as it lost its first Atlantic Coast Conference game 3-1 on Friday at the KFC Yum! Center.

After losing two of the first three sets by a combined 22 points, the Orange (11-3, 2-1 ACC) couldn’t recover, eventually dropping set four, and the match, to the Cardinals (9-4, 3-0).

Coming off two wins against its first two ACC opponents, the Orange struggled to put Friday’s game together.

The Orange came out slow in the first set, only putting 12 points on the board.

SU bounced back in set two, taking the Cardinals to the wire. SU was able to capitalize on a few Louisville errors, and after a period of back and forth play, the Orange took the set 25-22.

From there, SU struggled, losing the next two sets.

Syracuse’s usually-active offensive frontline couldn’t make anything happen. The Orange ended the game with 33 kills, compared to Louisville’s 63.

The SU hitting percentage was .058, meaning the Orange only scored on 5.8 percent of its hits. Louisville scored on 21.8 percent.

On the defensive side, the Orange defense continued its blocking dominance, totaling 13 blocks in the loss. Sophomore Leah Levert and freshman Santita Ebangwese led the way for the Orange with two solo blocks each.

After what SU head coach Leonid Yelin called a “good start to the season” a week ago, the Orange can bounce back in Sunday’s road matchup against Notre Dame (5-10, 0-3).