Syracuse volleyball’s Christina Oyawale provides spark in loss to Notre Dame

Christina Oyawale gave Syracuse a much-needed spark. With the score between SU and Notre Dame tied at 10 in the second set, Oyawale scored off an assist by teammate Dana Vallely. The crowd erupted into cheers as the Orange took a one-point lead over the Fighting Irish.

On the next play, Syracuse’s Santita Ebangwese scored to extend SU’s lead to 12-10, the largest point differential of the second set at that point. Notre Dame’s Rebecca Nunge scored putting the Fighting Irish within one point of Syracuse once again. Oyawale retaliated with one more kill of her own.

Throughout the back-and-forth second set, Oyawale kept Syracuse (3-12, 2-3 Atlantic Coast) close against Notre Dame (14-3, 5-0). SU lost the set, 26-24, and eventually the match in straight sets, but Oyawale stepped up for the Orange by scoring the team’s third-most points (five) and having one of the only hitting percentages above .200, at .231 for SU.

In the second set, Oyawale was ready to play. She scored four of her five points during the second set, three of which were in the middle and helped put Syracuse on the winning side for a brief amount of time.

“Christina had a couple of great kills and it got us all excited,” SU’s Mackenzie Weaver said.

Notre Dame’s Meg Morningstar went to hit the ball over the net in the second set but was stopped by the forces of Oyawale and Levert. The ball went down and Notre Dame couldn’t save it. The block broke the 17-17 tie, putting Syracuse up one point at 18-17.

“We’re a family on and off (the court),” Oyawale said. “We came in, we wanted it. We played together and worked together.”

At the end of the first set, Oyawale contributed on another key moment. Notre Dame was at set point, leading the Orange, 24-16. The Fighting Irish served. The ball flew over the net and nearly fell if not for Oyawale. On her knees, she managed to hit the ball just high enough that the rest of her team was able to get it over the net. The Fighting Irish still managed to score, ending the final set at 25-16 in favor of Notre Dame.

In the third set, Oyawale had the Orange’s final kill of the game. Assisted by Vallely, she hit the ball to the right side of the court. The ball just barely stayed in, putting up one of Syracuse’s final points of the game. The score was 21-9.

Oyawale closed the game as well. Notre Dame was at match point, 24-10, when Oyawale made her only attack error of the night. The ball went out of bounds and Notre Dame won the third and final set, 25-10.

“We got a couple of times where I was thinking, finally, people get it,” SU head coach Leonid Yelin said. “They know how to do what we were planning to do. But obviously, it just happened.”