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After Clemson scored two points to tie the pivotal fifth set at 14 apiece, Syracuse head coach Leonid Yelin called a timeout. His team was locked in a fierce five-set battle for the second game in a row. After losing the fifth set 18-16 against North Carolina two days before, it looked like the Orange’s late-game woes might materialize again.

Instead, Syracuse exploded out of the break. After a long back-and-forth between the two teams, middle blocker Izzy Plummer and right-side hitter Naomi Franco rose to meet a Clemson attacker, emphatically blocking her kill and causing an attack error from Clemson outside hitter Cate Long. In the match point, Elena Karakasi approached and leapt to the net, powerfully sending the ball past the Tiger defense and killing their victory hopes along with it.

Syracuse (5-5, 5-5 Atlantic Coast) notched its first win of the season since resuming play this spring. The Orange escaped narrowly with a win, beating the Tigers (10-7, 4-6) 25-20 and 25-21 in the first two sets. But the Tigers roared back and dominated the next two sets behind 37 kills from freshman outside hitter Camryn Hannah, an ACC season-high, before the Orange climbed back to secure the win in the fifth set.

Despite a much different result in the Orange’s second game of the weekend, Yelin said that no extra inspiration was needed to will his team to a win at the timeout.

“There was no verbal message,” Yelin said. “You’re not going to say one magical word, so they want to win more.”

While Clemson generated a comeback in the fourth and fifth sets, Franco and Viktoriia Lokhmanchuk dominated down the stretch, fending attacks to lead SU to victory. Franco, who set career-highs in kills, points, digs and blocks, broke through the Clemson defense with a crucial kill in the fifth set and put the Orange on top after blocking a Tiger attacker for the Orange’s 16th point. Lokhmanchuk, who also set career-highs in kills, points, digs and blocks and served the first ace of her career, dominated the Tiger defensive front, garnering five kills in the pivotal fifth set.

“I don’t know who could tell you why I performed so well,” Lokhmanchuk said. “I was in my right mind condition, and that helped.”

While Franco and Lokhmanchuk commanded the Clemson front throughout the fifth set, it was Karakasi who was able to put away the game for good.

“We won, and I’m very happy about that,” Karakasi said. “But I couldn’t imagine how it would be to lose another five-set game.”

Published on March 7, 2021 at 7:01 pm

Contact Sam: swarre03@syr.edu