Everyone on Syracuse knew the talent of Marquette’s outside hitters. It was shown to them all week at practice. Still, there’s only so much the Orange could game plan for.

And seemingly every time Marquette outside hitter Ciara Jones hit the ball it bounced off SU’s blockers and right out of bounds.

‘She has one of the most powerful swings that I’ve blocked against in a long time,’ middle blocker Lindsey McCabe said.

With a rare full week off for the Orange, SU took the opportunity to do some extra scouting on the Golden Eagles’ trio of outside hitters Jones, Ashley Beyer and middle hitter Danielle Carlson. Even so, the three combined for 46 kills in a 3-1 win over Syracuse as the two were virtually impossible to block for the match’s final three sets.

‘As we go into the game, they start adjusting to things, and that’s where I think we got caught up,’ outside hitter Noemie Lefebvre said. ‘We couldn’t really adjust back to what they were doing in the following sets.’

In the first set, the Orange defense shut down not only the three stars for Marquette, but also the entire Golden Eagles offense.

But as Lefebvre said, the Golden Eagles had no trouble adjusting.

Marquette’s playmakers could not be held in check for more than that first set. Jones led the team with 17 kills for the match and Carlson had 16. Carlson hit an astounding .467 to lead the team.

Syracuse was aware of the additional challenge Carlson provided and game planned accordingly.

‘We knew No. 8, their middle, was hitting almost .500 in conference games, so just mainly blocking their big attackers (was the focus),’ McCabe said.

Handling Carlson was especially difficult because she was always in the right place for the Golden Eagles and the offense was consistently funneled through her.

McCabe recalled the difficulties in executing plays against Marquette a year ago because of the straight-down kills by the Golden Eagles. This year, Carlson contributed her fair share, and as the Orange was unable to execute in the fourth set Saturday, the same issues persisted.

But the most unique challenge SU faced was Jones and her powerful right arm.

A year ago, Jones was named a third team All-National by COBRA Magazine. This year, the magazine put her on the second team in the preseason.

And while most of the offense was held in check for the first set, Marquette adjusted to Syracuse’s talented blockers. Jones was able to get back into a rhythm after SU won the opening frame.

‘She’s phenomenal,’ defensive specialist Ashley Williams said. ‘Our front row was scared to block her because she hits a heavy ball. … I wouldn’t be surprised if she was All-Big East and All-American.’

Even when the Orange blockers were getting in the way, Jones just kept hitting. The outside hitter’s swing was powerful enough that no matter how perfect the block, the ball would ricochet off of the blockers’ hands and out of bounds.

‘We’re closing the block, and she’s still hitting through us,’ McCabe said.

SU felt confident the way it played early in the game is good enough to compete with anyone in the country and especially anyone in the Big East.

And the two outside hitters for Marquette are just as good as any individual players Syracuse will play all season. The way that the Orange handled them for most of the game gives assistant coach Kelly Morrisroe confidence going forward.

‘Both of their outsides could be All-American candidates, but I think we did a lot of nice things against them,’ Morrisroe said.

dbwilson@syr.edu