The championship match of the Big Orange Tournament didn’t begin how the Syracuse women’s volleyball team would have liked – with a 32-30 loss in game one against Texas Tech.

The loss, though, may have been the best thing for the Orange

The Orange trailed the Red Raiders, 26-18, late, but rallied to tie the game at 30 before ultimately losing. But the Syracuse comeback made the Orange players realize something before the start of the second game.

‘We got on the other side of the court and said, ‘Hey, we were with them, and we can beat these guys,” SU junior Brittany Kern said.

Then they did.

Syracuse resiliency helped fuel one of many weekend comebacks as the Orange defeated the Red Raiders, 3-1, to win the Big Orange Tournament Saturday night at Manley Field House. Syracuse (7-4) swept the weekend series by also defeating Princeton (1-2) on Friday night and Fordham (5-7) on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Kacie MacTavish, who had the match-winning kill against Texas Tech (6-3), was named the tournament MVP while senior Joscie Kaup made the all-tournament team.

‘Once we got to about 20 (points against Texas Tech), we started really playing well, giving us more confidence, which really helped build up the momentum for the next game,’ said Kern, who had 10 kills and two blocks in the championship game.

The Orange’s resiliency is what led to their success during the weekend tournament. In the championship match, Syracuse rallied from deficits in each of the three games it won.

Against Princeton on Friday night, SU lost the first game to the Tigers but rebounded to win the match, 3-2. In the decisive fifth game, the Orange trailed the Tigers, 13-12, but kills by Sarah Morton and Mindy Stanislovaitis helped propel Syracuse to a 15-13 win. Morton led the team with 21 kills and five solo blocks, while MacTavish added 19 kills.

In the first two games against Fordham, SU jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, using its outside attack to win 30-25 and 30-18. But with the chance to sweep, the Orange trailed the Rams, 12-5, early. But Syracuse rallied back to take the last game and sweep Fordham, 33-31. MacTavish led the Orange’s attack with 12 kills while junior Hayley Todd added three solo blocks against the Rams.

‘That just shows the character of the players on this team,’ Syracuse assistant coach Carol LaMarche said of the team’s resiliency this weekend. ‘They don’t give up, they play all the way through, and we just don’t roll over. Even when we’re down, we’re fighting to get back into it, and it just shows that we’re mentally strong.’

LaMarche explained being mentally strong as being more mature and preparing better before games, with scouting reports and being physically ready.

SU senior Cheryl Cobbina said after the victory against Princeton, it shows a difference between the team from last year and this year.

‘It just shows our growth from last year,’ said Cobbina, who finished with 35 kills over the weekend, including team high 22 kills in the championship game. ‘Just the fact that we were down three or four points at one point and we can come back shows that we’ve grown, and we’re a new team this year.’

SU’s resiliency might show growth from last year, but it also reflected the team’s desire to win on its home court. With the sweep this weekend, the Orange improved to 5-0 inside Manley Field House on the season.

‘We keep talking about (our home record),’ Kaup said. ‘We can’t lose on our court; this is our house. You don’t come here and beat us on our court, and that’s big this year.’

Whether it was maturity, growth or a desire to stay undefeated, the Orange showed a resiliency that ended with its fourth Big Orange Tournament sweep in six years.

‘We pushed to the end,’ LaMarche said. ‘We had a slow start, but once we got going, we pushed all the way through, and we didn’t let big runs get on us.’

Published on September 9, 2007 at 12:00 pm