Inability to close out sets plagues Syracuse in straight-sets loss to Pittsburgh

Syracuse needed two points.

It had controlled the pace throughout the first set, led by Anastasiya Gorelina’s nine kills, and built up a 23-20 lead. It would be just the second time the visiting Panthers lost an opening set in 13 games, the only other time coming against the Orange on Sept. 22.

Then, SU crumbled. A kill by Pittsburgh’s Layne Van Buskirk, an attack error by Santita Ebangwese, and an errant set by Dana Valelly evened the score at 23. Then, after an attack error and a kill by Ella Saada, two Stephanie Williams kills won Pittsburgh the set, 26-24.

“We started playing safe, playing not to lose,” head coach Leonid Yelin said. “It usually doesn’t work.”

Syracuse (14-7, 6-2 Atlantic Coast) failed to close out two sets in which it had a late lead and lost to Pitt (14-4, 7-0 Atlantic Coast) in straight sets, 24-26, 24-26, 19-25, Friday afternoon at the Women’s Building. Syracuse registered six total blocks and 31 digs, their second- and third-lowest totals of the season, respectively.

“It was hard for us (to block their hitters),” Gorelina said.

Anastasiya Gorelina (16 kills) and Santita Ebangwese (10 kills) provided for the Orange on offense, while Jalissa Trotter tallied 25 assists, six digs, and two aces. Belle Sand posted nine digs, only the fourth time all season she failed to eclipse 10. Ella Saada also chipped in with eight kills and four digs.

In the second set, SU used a 4-0 run to take a 16-14 lead and, from there, the two teams traded points until the score was knotted at 19. Then, Williams stepped up again, placing two kills past a hopeless Syracuse defense to give her team as part of a 3-0 run by the visitors. The Orange managed to claw back to even the score at 24 through three Pittsburgh attack errors and kills from Ebangwese and Christina Oyawale, but the Panthers’ hitters responded. Back-to-back kills by Van Buskirk and Nika Markovic gave Pittsburgh the set, 26-24.

“We were getting tense at times we didn’t need to,” Ebangwese said. “When someone made a mistake, it led to more and more.”

The third set was the easiest of the day for the Panthers, which established an early lead that it never relinquished. Up 11-10, Pittsburgh powered home 12 of the game’s next 17 points, including four kills from Kayla Lund and two from Williams. The Orange whittled the lead down to five, but it was too late, as the Panthers closed out the set, 25-19.

“Pittsburgh was the better team today,” Yelin said.