Syracuse comes back, down 2 sets, to beat Iowa State 3-2

In the third game of Syracuse’s (4-4) three-game weekend, SU defeated Iowa State (7-6), 3-2, after coming back from two sets down. The win comes after the Orange beat Wyoming in five sets Friday and dropped a match to Iowa in five sets Saturday.

In the first two sets Friday, Syracuse struggled. The Orange recorded a sub .100 in each set, while Iowa State hovered above .300, winning the first and second sets 25-18 and 25-16, respectively. The Orange improved in the third set. It traded the lead with the Cyclones until the score was tied, 20-20. A big kill by senior Santita Ebangwese gave SU a 21-20 lead and SU hung on to win the set 25-22.

The Orange controlled the lead thereafter. They went up 12-11 and won the fourth set 25-21 on another Ebangwese kill. The fifth set was almost all SU. Syracuse ended on an 8-3 run to win 15-9. Once again, Ebangwese recorded the set-ending kill.

Despite the hot start for Iowa State, and the cold one for SU, both teams finished with similar hitting percentages. SU got their percentage up to .202 on the match while the Cyclones’ fell to .236.

Ebangwese led the way for the Orange with 15 kills while redshirt senior Amber Witherspoon and sophomore Yuliia Yastrub both had 11. Freshman Polina Shemanova, who before the game was on a streak of four straight 20 or more kill games, recorded eight.

Syracuse’s next game will be its home opener as the Orange start ACC play against Georgia Tech on Friday at 7 p.m.