Orange drop 3-1 decision to No. 8 Pittsburgh

Syracuse’s historic undefeated start in ACC play came to an end on Friday night, as the Orange dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 8 Pittsburgh.

Wearing their royal blue and gold retro uniforms, the Panthers (16-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast) outscored Syracuse (8-5, 4-1)  98-68 over the four sets. Pittsburgh’s hitting percentage of .319 more than doubled Syracuse’s .157.

The loss extended SU’s losing streaks against both the Panthers and ranked opponents, each dating back to 2015.

In the first set, senior setter Jalissa Trotter opened with a service error, sending the ball out of bounds. From there, the Panthers would go on to hold leads of 8-3, 13-4, and 22-6. The 25-9 final marked the first time the Orange were held to single-digit points in one of the first four sets since Sept. 1 of last season against No. 6 Wisconsin.

The Orange held their own in the second set and found themselves in a 22-22 tie with a chance to turn the page. SU was unable to finish, however, losing 25-23, with back-to-back kills from sophomore Kayla Lund breaking the tie.

In the third set, the Orange were able to finish, unlike the previous set. Up 24-22, a Lund kill brought the Panthers to within one. After calling a timeout to regroup and regain focus, a kill from Polina Shemanova won the Orange its first set.

Playing out similar to the first set, Pittsburgh held leads of 10-3 and 20-10 in the fourth set, punctuated by a kill by Layne van Buskirk for the final point.

Shemanova’s 10 kills led the Orange, however that total was her second lowest of the season and first time under 14 in conference play. Senior Santita Ebangwese had 10 blocks, while junior Kendra Lukacs contributed 12 digs.

SU was unable to get its offense into a rhythm the entire match. They could not contain Pitt’s potent front line which was paced by Lund and Markovic with 21 and 18 kills, respectively.

The Orange look to get back on track Sunday in their last of four consecutive road matches, taking on Virginia at 1 p.m.