The Syracuse volleyball team dropped the first set of its match against Seton Hall Sunday. A young, inexperienced team may have folded under the circumstances. Fortunately for the Orange, the team’s four seniors refused to let that happen.

After easily disposing of Rutgers Friday, 3-0, Syracuse (13-5, 3-1) recovered from a sloppy first set loss to take down Seton Hall 3-1 on Sunday in Manley Field House. Led by seniors Kacie MacTavish, Shanetha McLaurin, Annabelle Pellerin and Sarah Morton, the Orange now sit in third place in the Big East standings.

‘Those seniors are like the core of our team. They’re great leaders,’ assistant coach Carol LaMarche said. ‘They’re pretty consistent with their play, and everyone looks up to them on what to do. They’re doing everything that we ask of them.’

Despite that senior leadership, Syracuse delivered the first set for the Pirates (8-12, 2-2). Three net violations, four service errors and miscommunication on a few points stopped the Orange from taking the first game, despite leading in almost every stat category.

On one point, Syracuse received a serve and four players stood and watched as the ball landed directly in the middle of the court. The winning point for Seton Hall in the set came on Morton’s serve that sailed straight into the net.

But the Orange did not let their mistakes get them down, as the seniors rallied the team together.

In the second set, Seton Hall continued to stay close with the Orange, even after its mental mistakes had been resolved. Neither team led by more than two points throughout, and Syracuse needed extra points to take the set. MacTavish hit six of her 17 kills in the set, and the Orange won 27-25 to tie the match 1-1.

MacTavish finished with 17 kills, Morton had 14 and Pellerin ended with nine. The other senior defensive specialist McLaurin led the team with 18 digs.

Middle blocker Morton tied the Syracuse record for solo blocks with 193 in her career during the third set. The record has been standing since 1991. Her performance, the play of the other three seniors, and some strong play from freshman Samantha Hinz helped the Orange pull out the win.

In the next set, SU head coach Jing Pu showed everyone just how important every Big East game is. With the Orange ahead 16-15, the referee called a four-touch penalty on Syracuse to tie up the crucial set. The usually soft-spoken Pu got up out of his chair and started screaming at the ref. The referee realized she had made a mistake and decided to replay the point. Seton Hall was called for a carry, giving the Orange a two-point lead instead of a tie game.

The Orange went on to win that set 25-20. If the team had not realized the significance of the game before Pu’s surprising explosion, they definitely did after it.

‘The girls always like when they see him outburst,’ LaMarche said. ‘It helps them recognize just how important the game is. They were fired up.’

Syracuse brought that fire into the fourth set. Behind four kills by Morton, three kills by Pellerin and three by MacTavish, the Orange held off a late Seton Hall rally to win the final set 25-22.

The win showed that the Orange has the focus to rebound from poor play and an early deficit. They even overcame a substitution error in the second set that put 5-foot-6 sophomore Ashley Williams in the front row and setter Laura Homann at middle blocker.

Pellerin said that the team tries to forget about all their mistakes so they don’t get down on themselves. Having four seniors to lead certainly helps them do that. They know how to handle themselves when they get down in a match. Pellerin added that each girl brings her own different type of leadership to the court, and that is a great benefit to the team.

Morton, who leads the country in total blocks and will soon be by herself as all-time leader in solo blocks at Syracuse, said that the seniors’ experience helped push the Orange to a win on Sunday.

‘We’ve been here before. We’ve been in these situations,’ she said. ‘The other girls look to us for confidence and leadership, and as a group, I think we did really great today.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on October 4, 2009 at 12:00 pm