Offense paces Syracuse in 3-0 win at Clemson

Syracuse (15-8, 7-3 Atlantic Coast) snapped a two-game losing streak Sunday afternoon with a 3-0 win over Clemson (6-16, 1-9) in Clemson, South Carolina. After defeating Clemson 25-17, 25-16, 25-21 in the Women’s Building on Oct. 6, the Orange completed the season sweep Sunday, winning 25-20, 25-15, 25-20.

Anastasiya Gorelina and Santita Ebangwese paced the offense, with 17 and nine kills, respectively. As a team, the Orange had its most efficient offensive performance of the season, registering a team hitting percentage of .417 — .075 points better than its previous best. Gorelina’s 17 kills came with just three errors on 29 attack attempts, a .517 hitting percentage, her second best of the season.

Ebangwese also posted a season best .818 hitting percentage. Defensively, she was responsible for five blocks, with help from Amber Witherspoon and Christina Oyawele, who each added three.

In a back and forth first set, the Orange dropped the opening five points, but rallied to win eight of the next nine points to take an 8-6 lead. SU used a 7-2 run at the end of the opening set to pull away and win 25-20, capitalizing on four attack errors by the Tigers in the final eight points of the set.

Leading 13-9 in the second set, the Orange used an 8-2 run to pull away from the Tigers and comfortably win, 25-15. The third set was the most competitive throughout, with neither team leading by more than three points at any time until SU used a late run to close out the match. Tied at 19 in the third set, head coach Leonid Yelin used a timeout and SU responded with six of the final seven points of the match, using three kills and an ace to put the match away.

SU returns home Friday at 7 p.m. against Virginia Tech.