Mackenzie Weaver let out a cry of “Let’s get to 25,” to start an unexpected fourth set. It was the first time in three contests that Syracuse had even gone this deep into a game. And little did Weaver know, it would take the Orange 31 points to end it.

Amber Witherspoon batted down a spike for her 10th block and for the first time in 2016, Syracuse won a game.

The Orange (1-5) ground out a 3-1 win over Siena (1-7) that ended far more tumultuous than it began. The Orange never trailed in the first two sets, which it won, 25-23 and 25-16, respectively. But Siena started to capitalizing on Syracuse mistakes to win the third set, 25-14, and push the fourth to the brink.

A loss would have matched the worst start in program history, 1983, when SU lost six games to start its the year.

“This is not okay,” Weaver shouted after setter Jalissa Trotter dove deep behind the back line to retrieve ball batted off Syracuse and barely missed it, putting Syracuse behind 19-9 in the third set.

Mistakes piled up quickly. A receive bounced off the hands of hitter Anastasiya Gorelina and over the Syracuse bench. Front line blocks were knocked backward. Balls landed behind the back row and in bounds, despite the SU players expecting them to fly out of bounds.

“I wouldn’t say it was pretty,” Syracuse head coach Leonid Yelin said. “But they didn’t quit, they didn’t give up. I could go either way.”

What didn’t sit well with him was his team hanging on those mistakes, thinking about them as play continued and letting them sink into ensuing action. He referred to their missteps as mental rather than skill based.

Syracuse recovered after the shaky third set and jumped ahead of Siena in the fourth. Siena tied it four times in a row following a 25-25 tie. Needing a two-point lead to get the win, SU found it with a Weaver spike and ensuing block by Witherspoon.

“We realized either we were going to come away and we were going to five and push our luck or we were going to fold up,” Weaver said. “But I think that it gave us a chance to re-evaluate ourselves and say ‘What happened? This isn’t OK, but we’re going to fix it right now and we’re going to talk about it later and we’re going to move on.’”

The Orange will play again on Saturday, facing No. 17 Penn State (4-3) at 7 p.m in the Women’s Building. Penn State has lost three of its last five games. Each loss came against a top 25 opponent.

Published on September 10, 2016 at 3:18 pm

Contact Bobby: rpmannin@syr.edu