Syracuse dominates late to down Iona

Syracuse (6-4) defeated Iona (2-7) Saturday afternoon in the Dartmouth tournament in Hanover, New Hampshire. After splitting the first two sets, 25-18, 17-25, the Orange were dominant, winning the final two sets, 25-14, 25-12.

The Orange controlled every statistical category, notably besting the Gaels in aces (6-2) and digs (52-41). Anastasiya Gorelina (13 kills), Kendra Lukacs (11 kills) and Santita Ebangwese (11 kills) powered the Orange on the offensive end, along with Annie Bozzo (40 assists). SU also posted a hitting percentage of .342, more than doubling Iona.

The two teams were knotted at six in the first set before SU began to pull away. Scoring nine of the next eleven points, Syracuse was able to separate itself from the Gaels, led by Lukacs with five kills.

Iona came back in the second set, going on two separate 4-0 runs to pull away from the Orange. SU had its worst set of the match, posting a .214 hitting percentage with just 10 kills. Five different Gaels had a kill, helping their team win the set, 25-17.

The next two sets Syracuse dominated. In two of its most impressive sets of the season, the Orange held its opponents to a combined 26 points in the final two sets. Early in the third set, SU won nine of ten points, setting the tone for a 25-14 win. SU used another run to win the fourth set, led by four kills from Gorelina. The Orange ended the match by scoring the 11 points in a row.