Syracuse loses 2nd-straight game, 3-1, on road against Notre Dame

After Syracuse’s five-game win streak came to an end on Friday, the Orange (10-13, 7-9 Atlantic Coast) lost their second-straight game, 3-1, at Notre Dame (18-7, 11-4) on Sunday in South Bend, Indiana. The loss came two weeks after the Orange defeated the Fighting Irish 3-1 at home in a game where SU showed its resilience, recovering from early-match woes to upset the conference’s second-best team. 

Sunday, Polina Shemanova recorded only two kills in the first set as the Orange lost 25-17. Shemanova currently sits fifth in the NCAA, averaging 5.16 kills per set, in addition to leading the ACC in points per set, kills and overall points. Entering Sunday’s game against the Fighting Irish, she had posted a season-low 10 kill performance against Louisville on Friday. The Orange also had a season-low 24 kills in that game.

Freshman and middle blocker Izzy Plummer got her second start of the year, replacing Dana Gardner, who had one block in Friday’s loss to Louisville. Senior Kendra Lukacs also started — the outside hitter has only appeared in six sets through the Orange’s last five matches.

In the first set, Syracuse tallied only eight kills, 4.9 lower than the team’s season average. The slow start was characteristic of the Orange, who have lost the first set in four of their last five games. 

“The first set is always the set where you’re not fully into the game,” Shemanova said after SU beat Notre Dame on Nov. 1. “You’re still making some adjustments, so the first set is usually not the best for our team.”

Midway through the second set, SU went on a 6-0 run — the stretch included three kills from Shemanova and two from junior Ella Saada. The set included five lead-changes, with neither side leading by more than four points. Late in the set, two clutch kills from Elena Karakasi gave SU a 23-21 lead. Karakasi finished the match with five kills.

Just like their previous matchup against the Fighting Irish, the Orange proved they could bounce back, securing a narrow second-set victory, 26-24. 

But just as the Orange began to gain momentum, Notre Dame dominated the following set, never trailing SU and securing a 25-18 win. 

The Orange nearly continued a comeback when the Fighting Irish had three consecutive errors late in the fourth set, but lost the set 26-24. Though they kept it close, Notre Dame made fewer errors and had more kills on fewer attacking opportunities.  Shemanova and Saada gave the Orange a chance, finishing the match with 21 and 14 kills respectively, but ultimately, SU was unable to overcome its second-most errors of the season (29). 

The victory moves the Fighting Irish back into second place in the ACC. Syracuse will close out its regular season with two home games against Boston College and Clemson.