Syracuse upsets No. 22 Louisville in 5 sets

On Sunday, Syracuse exited Cardinal Arena in Louisville with something they’ve never gotten there before: a win. The Orange (13-7, 9-3 Atlantic Coast) knocked off No. 22 Louisville (17-6, 10-2) in dramatic fashion, clinching the victory with a 15-13 fifth set win, ending the match 3-2.

With the Cardinals up 9-7 in the fifth set, SU head coach Leonid Yelin called a timeout. His team responded well, coming back out to quickly take a 12-11 lead. Finally, up 14-13, Louisville’s Amanda Green could not get her serve over the net, ending the match and sending the Orange into celebrations on the other side of the court. It marked the 16th service error of the match for Louisville, 10 more than Syracuse had.

The early sets were back-and-forth. Louisville took the first set, 25-21, but UofL only took a permanent hold of the lead after the set was tied 16-16. Syracuse won the second set in a similar fashion, taking hold of the lead and not giving it back after it was tied 10-10.

The third and fourth sets, though, were the exact opposite. Louisville took the third set 25-17 and never once gave away the lead. Syracuse responded well, giving the Cardinals the same treatment in a 25-18 fourth set win to force the fifth.

On paper, the teams were even. Syracuse finished with a hitting percentage of .299, with Louisville only a tad behind at .250. The Orange out-blocked the Cardinals 10-9 and Louisville had two more digs, 59-57. Errors are what hurt Louisville, having nine more attack errors and 10 more service errors than the Orange.

SU freshman Polina Shemanova led the way for the Orange with 19 kills. Ella Saada finished with 14, while Amber Witherspoon and Santita Ebangwese both tallied eight. Dana Valelly played in all five sets and led SU with 29 assists.

The win was a bounce-back for the Orange, which lost in straight sets to Notre Dame on Friday. The loss for Louisville was just its second in ACC play this season.

Syracuse will look to keep its NCAA tournament aspirations alive against Boston College on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the Women’s Building.