Shemanova, Markova dominate in route to 5-0 start for Syracuse
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Syracuse led 23-16 in the final set of the game when Mila Yarich of Yale leaped up to serve the ball to Syracuse’s side. Yuliia Yastrub hit the ball right on top of the net for Elena Karakasi, who was met by a Yale defender. Karakasi overwhelmed the Yale defender as she and the SU frontline had been doing all match. She got the kill, putting Syracuse up 24-16. And then to end the night after an earlier sweep versus Yale, Abby Casiano received opportune placement from Karakasi to give Syracuse the win over the Bulldogs on Friday.
With the help of Marina Markova and Polina Shemanova, the Orange (5-0, 0-0) swept three-time Ivy League defending champions Yale (1-1, 0-0) to give the Bulldogs their first loss of the 2021 season. It was SU’s first 5-0 start since 2015 after an earlier win against Quinnipiac.
In the first game versus Quinnipiac (1-4, 0-0), Syracuse also swept the Bobcats in a dominating performance. At first, Syracuse and Quinnipiac were toe-to-toe in the first set of the game. However, Syracuse was able to make a run toward the end of the set and never looked back. In the final six serves of the first set, SU capitalized on errors from Quinnipiac, narrowly winning 25-20.
In the second and third sets, the Orange separated themselves from the Bobcats, winning 25-13 and 25-14. Markova and Shemanova, who were absent from the team in the spring 2021 season, were crucial to the Orange this match as they finished with a combined 28 kills. Fifth-year senior Yastrub also anchored the SU defense and led the team with 16 digs, preventing multiple Quinnipiac attempts to claw back into the game.
Overall, SU dominated statistically, charting 19 more assists than the Bobcats, eight more blocks, and a 28 point differential throughout the three sets.
In the second matchup of the night almost nine hours later, Yale jumped out to a 5-1 lead. Syracuse, however, regained composure in the first set, went on a 15-5 run to get out in front of Yale and ended up winning 25-16.
In the second set, Syracuse won by six points but had little trouble as it jumped out to a 6-0 lead. SU finished the set with a .324 hitting percentage compared to a meager .048 from Yale.
In the final set, Yale recorded the first point off an attack error from Karakasi, but SU quickly earned four points, two off kills from Markova. Throughout the final set and like she had been doing the whole game, Karakasi assisted on multiple kills furthering SU’s lead. Eventually, SU would capitalize on Yale attack errors and finish the third set in a 25-16 victory.
The Orange have one game Saturday against Hartford at 1 p.m. to round out their time in New Haven for the road trip. On the day, Markova and Shemanova showed them what they were missing in the spring and finished with 59 total kills, more than the rest of the team combined, to help SU off to a 5-0 start.
