Syracuse falls in 5 sets to Iowa in back-and-forth affair

After winning in three sets yesterday, Syracuse (3-4) found itself on the other end of the equation on Saturday night, losing to the Iowa Hawkeyes (8-3), 3-2. In a true back-and-forth affair, Syracuse won the first and third sets while Iowa won the second, fourth and then ultimately won the fifth set tiebreaker. The game was played in Ames, IA as part of the Iowa State Tournament.

Syracuse never gave up the lead in the first set, leading by at least three the whole time after taking a 16-13 advantage, ultimately winning the set 25-18 on a kill by senior Santita Ebangwese, who would finish the match with 12 kills. The second set was almost the exact opposite as Iowa took a 3-2 lead on an Ella Saada service error and then never gave it back up, winning 25-15.

The Orange came out firing on all cylinders for the third set, jumping out to a 9-1 lead. Senior Jalissa Trotter picked up four of her team-leading 49 assists over that span. Iowa pulled within two, but never fully surmounted the deficit as Syracuse took the set 25-19 on another Ebangwese kill set up by Trotter.

The fourth set was the most back-and-forth, with the game knotted up at 13-13 halfway through. Iowa, however, took the lead from there to take the set 25-19.

The Hawkeyes ended the fifth set on a strong 7-3 run taking it by a score of 15-10. Iowa’s Cali Hoye led the match with 24 kills while SU’s freshman Polina Shemanova led the Orange with 22. As a team, Syracuse finished with a hit percentage of .212 to Iowa’s .275.

Syracuse will try to finish the tournament with a winning record when they face Iowa State tomorrow at 1 p.m.