Syracuse beats Wake Forest in a 5-set, comeback victory
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.
Late into the fourth set, with the Demon Deacons leading 2-1, an Ashley Slater kill gave Wake Forest a 24-22 advantage, bringing up the match point and leading SU head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam to call a timeout.
After the break, the Orange immediately Riley Hoffman assisted a Polina Shemanova kill to bring the deficit down to one point, and a failed serve by Andrea Fuentes tied the match. Now, Wake Forest had to call a timeout.
But it was not enough to stop Syracuse as consecutive kills by Shemanova and Viktoriia Lokhmanchuk — both of which were assisted by Hoffman — polished off a four-point run for the Orange as they came from behind and stole the fourth set.
After Wake Forest (9-5, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) won the first two sets by a combined score of 51-41, the Orange (7-6, 3-0 ACC) stormed back to win three straight sets and ultimately the match to stay undefeated in conference play.
Naomi Franco produced a career-high 23 kills — trouncing her previous high of 15 against Bryant on Sept. 17. She also came away with two blocks and a dig while recording a .543 hitting percentage, her second-highest of the year.
The Orange were led by Shemanova, whose 28 kills were a game-high for either team. The total also marked a season-high for her, as well as her highest single-game total since 2019. Her hitting percentage of .344 was also her second-highest figure of the season behind her .360 mark in Syracuse’s win over North Florida on Sept. 3.
With Syracuse and Wake Forest tied at 10 during the fifth set, Wake Forest’s Megan Merril got set to serve, looking for her 11th ace of the season. Instead, Alyssa Bert assisted a Shemanova kill, sparking a run of three straight points for the Orange as they pulled away toward victory.
Franco and Shemanova recorded three of SU’s next four points — with all of them being assisted by Lauren Woodford — closing out the comeback win for the Orange as they secured the final set by a score of 15-12.
Woodford and Hoffman produced 28 and 29 assists, respectively, while the team’s 70 total assists were a season-high. Both setters reached their career-high assist totals, with Woodford’s 28 assists tying her previous mark and Hoffman’s 29 assists blowing by her previous high of 23 against Boston College.
Syracuse outplayed Wake Forest in most facets of the game, recording more points, kills, assists and aces than the Demon Deacons, while the two teams were nearly identical in digs. But Wake Forest had its way at the net, doubling the Orange in blocks by a tally of 14-7. Olivia Franke produced more blocks alone (8) than Syracuse did as a team, while Bre Walp led the Orange with four. The win continued Syracuse’s undefeated start in conference play, a sharp contrast to the program’s 6-12 ACC record last season.