Syracuse’s defensive struggles lead to loss in final home game against Duke
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With Syracuse down two sets to one in the fourth set, Duke’s Taylor Cole bounced the ball as she prepared for the serve on match point. Cole leaped up and hit the ball, but it was too soft and the ball went directly into the net, giving the Orange the point and keeping the set alive as they were only down 18-24.
After Elena Karakasi served the ball on the next play for the Orange, Lizzie Fleming was set for a spike which she hit from her right side to the middle of the court. Karakasi dove for the ball on Flemming’s return, but she was too short on the dive, sealing the win for the Blue Devils.
Duke (16-12, 7-10 Atlantic Coast) used an aggressive playstyle which Syracuse (16-13, 5-12 ACC) struggled to deal with in its 3-1 loss on Senior Day.
SU came out of the gate strong and went up 7-1 in the first set, and looked like it would cruise to a win similar to its sweep in Durham against Duke in September. Despite an ace from the Blue Devils’ Gracie Johnson, the Orange still managed a 5-0 run to take a 12-3 lead.
But Duke slowly crept back into the match, decreasing SU’s lead to 14-9. On the 25th rally, the Orange defense showed flaws when Camille Nazor assisted Ade Owokoniran on a tap kill that went untouched by the Orange. Syracuse head coach Leonid Yelin called a timeout in an attempt to stop the Duke run, but Nazor then earned two consecutive service aces after the Syracuse defense failed to bring the ball down. Then, attack errors from Marina Markova and Polina Shemanova gave the Blue Devils their first lead of the day at 16-15.
Duke ran away with the first set and finished the match point off of a Mackenzie Cole service ace, which Shemanova got her hands on but couldn’t bring down. Throughout the set, Duke had five service aces and the Syracuse defense only had one block.
“We started more and more to get tight,” Yelin said regarding the Orange’s strategy as the game progressed.
Syracuse regrouped for the second set and looked stronger defensively. It went down 6-8 but went on a 7-1 run to take the lead, due in part to a service error from Duke. Compared to the rest of the game, Syracuse took advantage of Duke’s four service errors and six attack errors and finished with three blocks, including one by Izzy Plummer to win the set.
Duke rebounded from its error-filled second set and took an early third-set lead. With Syracuse down 3-1, outside hitter Naomi Franco attempted a spike but got blocked by Georgia Stavrinides. The ball spiraled to the Orange back row, but it was abandoned as the defense miscommunicated and everyone shifted forward, allowing the ball to fall untouched, giving Duke a point.
“It’s just mental,” Yelin said. “Everything that did not work out for the most part, I would say 95% is because of mental.”
Duke only notched one ace in the third set and handed Syracuse three service errors, but SU still trailed. Additionally, the defensive efforts were hardly effective, as the Orange only earned one block on the set. To earn Duke the match point, Fleming’s attacked the ball from the left side that was too strong for Syracuse, and the attempted block deflected out of bounds.
In the fourth set, Syracuse’s defensive struggles continued. The Orange went up 2-0, but a failed Markova block attempt and a Shemanova missed dig quickly evened it up at 2-2. Three plays later Markova had her attack blocked and sent back to an empty Syracuse back row.
Even with SU struggling on defense, Duke gave Syracuse plenty of opportunities to get back in the game and make a run. After earning three straight kills, Cole served the ball too far. Two plays later, Owokoniran did the same thing for Duke, and Syracuse was within two points of the Blue Devils down 6-8.
Overall, Syracuse struggled more than Duke. Down 7-9, Peyton O’Brien mishandled an attack that came directly to her chest, and the Orange followed that play by allowing another ace. The Blue Devils continued to outpace Syracuse and scored two points for every Syracuse point. Duke finished out the set confidently against Syracuse’s weakened defense.
“It’s not like we lost and got beat by a better team,” Yelin said. “We lost and we lost to ourselves.”
