Syracuse head coach Leonid Yelin lit into the nearest official during the fourth set Sunday as he thought that Pittsburgh took its fourth touch of a possession.

After winning a first set for the first time in conference play against Miami on Saturday, the Orange reverted to its slow starts as Pittsburgh (15-2, 3-1 Atlantic Coast) sped past SU (7-11, 0-6), 8-2, to start the match and eventually took the set by 12 points. Once again, the Orange came up short, losing 25-13, 17-25, 25-23, 25-23 to Pittsburgh. Syracuse broke when it mattered most.

In the last two sets the Orange was tied at 23 and let the Panthers take the last two points.

“We would like everyone to perform better with the game on the line,” Yelin said.

Syracuse chased Pittsburgh’s hits in the first set, scrambling to return the ball. The Panthers’ offense ran smoothly, passing and spiking seamlessly. But in the second set, the Orange recovered, winning 25-17.

Setter Gosia Wlaszczuk and outside hitter Silvi Uattara took over the set from beginning to end. Together the two were involved in 15 of the Orange’s 25 points.

“After you lose a set, you just (have) to shake it off and come back and win the next one, you can’t dread on it,” said Melina Violas, a senior defensive specialist. “I think we did a really good (job) not dreading on it and not looking back.”

In the third set, Syracuse and Pittsburgh traded points back and forth except for two Orange attack errors that stretched the Panthers’ lead to 14-10. Other than the lapses in the middle of the set, the Orange hung with the Panthers until Belle Sand’s error on a serve closed out the set by a score of 25-23.

In an equally back-and-forth fourth set, the Orange fought to the end. Syracuse tied the set at 23, but two spikes by Uattara were defended by Pittsburgh and a poor set from Wlaszczuk helped sealed Syracuse’s loss.

The Orange extended its losing streak to six games in ACC play, but Yelin applauded the team’s gritty effort, one the team had been looking to have for a long time. Despite the effort, Yelin would like to see the team improve.

Said Yelin: “We (were) trying so hard to break through this losing pattern.”

Published on October 12, 2014 at 7:48 pm

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati