Syracuse falls to Miami in 4 sets despite strong performances from Franco, Markova
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Tied at 10 in the fourth set, Miami sent a hard spike down to a gap in the defense at the center of the court. Peyton O’Brien anticipated it and laid out on her stomach to get a fist on it and keep it alive. Syracuse got the ball back on the Hurricanes’ side, but Miami would not relent.
Hurricane setter Savannah Vach passed the ball to middle blocker Janice Leao for another hard-hit spike. This time, Syracuse libero Lauren Hogan slid to her left, went to her knees and barely got a hand on it. Unfortunately for the Orange, the ball bounced off Hogan and shot out of bounds.
Syracuse (15-8, 4-7 Atlantic Coast) came up short to No. 15 Miami (18-3, 9-2 Atlantic Coast) in four sets. SU only had six fewer total points than Miami through the matchup, but the Hurricanes were dominant on offense, recording twelve more kills than Syracuse on 169 attacks. However, the Orange’s 68 digs kept them in the game throughout.
It was close at the beginning of the first set, and outside hitter Marina Markova found her groove early. The junior got two kills in a row that gave Syracuse its first lead of the night at 5-4. One kill saw setter Elena Karakasi hit the ball high up in the air from behind her back. With perfect timing, Markova leaped up way above the net and delivered an arrow of a kill that traveled all the way from the right side of the court to just inside the left sideline of Miami.
SU then began to climb ahead, with three straight blocks and a Polina Shemanova kill to put it up 9-5. The Orange ended up facing a six-point deficit after a series of mistakes. Markova made it close at the end with three kills as the set winded down. But Miami’s Janet Kalaniuvalu placed a ball right in front of the net with Syracuse defenders back and out of position to end the set 25-21.
Miami took that momentum into the second set and went up 7-1. But then Naomi Franco recorded five kills in the set. She finished the match with a season-high of 14.
After Miami responded with another spike, Karakasi dove again to save the ball. Hogan reacted quickly and bumped the ball to Franco for a spike that was just barely fielded by the Hurricanes. Miami managed to get the ball back on the Orange side, just for Hogan to set up Franco again for another huge spike along the right sideline. The ball bounced off a Hurricane defender and sailed out of bounds. After that play, however, Miami got kills on five of the next six plays and won the set 25-20.
The third set started off with an Orange lead. Markova had two kills and two solo blocks that had the Orange up 6-4. Syracuse went out to a five-point lead that they maintained through the rest of the set. Franco had four kills in the last ten plays and Markova had two of her own. It was enough to propel the Orange to a comfortable 25-18 third-set win.
The fourth set was close, and neither team had more than a two-point lead until the last few plays. Franco recorded just two kills in the final portion of the game and Miami’s offense returned to their form from the first two sets, as nearly a third of their kills took place in the fourth set. Miami’s four kills on five plays turned a tie game at 19-19 into a 23-20 one.
The game ended with a Hogan diving dig off the Miami serve, which put Syracuse off balance for the rest of the volley. Abby Casiano and Viktoriia Lokhmanchuk went up for a block on the right side that sent the ball right back to the Hurricanes. Miami quickly set the ball back up for an Angela Grieve spike that bounced off Casiano and out of bounds to finish the set off at 25-21.
The loss placed the Orange in ninth place in the conference. SU will finish up its road trip against Florida State on Sunday.