Jalissa Trotter set the ball for Anastasiya Gorelina, and as the latter delivered a dominant strike, the crowd broke its silence and roared. SU had just secured an 8-1 lead in the second set. Gorelina, an outside hitter, tallied her eighth kill of the game.

She finished the night with 13 kills as Syracuse (2-9, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) defeated Boston College (5-6, 0-1), 3-1.

Gorelina was a force on the court as her nine kills led the Orange to outscore Boston College by a combined 20 points in the first two sets. As she fed off of her teammates, the sophomore was able to find space to deliver her ferocious kills. In Friday’s game, she repeatedly targeted the right side of the Eagles formation. Gorelina, who echoed the cheers of the crowd with her own, fed off the Syracuse fanbase she stockpiled points.

Gorelina had trouble replicating her success from the first two sets. Dropping back down in a defensive role for the majority of the third and fourth sets, she played a more secondary role to freshman outside hitter Mackenzie Weaver, who recorded 12 kills. Weaver used her usual combination of drop shots and powerful strikes to be a key player on the court for the Orange.

“They had kills (Gorelina and Weaver). Thirteen and 12, respectively. But you have to look at how many errors they had,” head coach Leonid Yelin said. “This is the hardest part. They have the ability. They have the skills. They want to win … I’m just sitting, practicing, praying for them to get faster and mature.”

Costly errors allowed Boston College to win the third set. Tension was high as Yelin consistently pushed his team to compete.

“Focus on point,” Yelin shouted, as the Orange tried to establish an early lead in the fourth set.

And that’s what the Orange did, as it closed out a competitive fourth set, 25-21.

As conference play continues, Syracuse will rely on Gorelina and Weaver along with others to build off this win.

“We need to get balls up (in practice) like we would in game,” Weaver said. “We stepped up today.”

Published on September 23, 2016 at 11:44 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez