Going into the weekend, Syracuse knew two wins would be nice, but it wouldn’t be that greedy. Just one would be enough for SU’s players to keep its season alive.

Mission accomplished.

‘We try to keep it as positive as possible,’ outside hitter Hayley Todd said. ‘So definitely, this is a good feeling coming out of the weekend.’

Syracuse split its weekend matches, falling to Pittsburgh before beating West Virginia. And in the process of that match against the Mountaineers, the Orange just may have saved its season. It at least made Syracuse’s road ahead a little easier.

SU entered what was perhaps its most important weekend of the season needing at least one win to keep its playoff hopes alive. Two wins would have all but guaranteed the Orange its spot in the conference tournament.

After its loss to Pitt, the Orange hit the point of urgency. It was the point in which a loss against the Mountaineers would have made it seemingly impossible for Syracuse to plan on taking a trip to Pittsburgh for the Big East championship.

‘I think we’re feeling a little anxious right now,’ Orange assistant coach Carol LaMarche said after the loss. ‘Today, Sunday and the next two games were almost must-wins.’

Well, SU got one of those must-wins.

Syracuse came in searching for victories, coming off two straight Big East losses. Each one made the road to the postseason a little tougher. Each one made this weekend — these two matches against the Panthers and Mountaineers — that much more crucial.

The Orange would have to get at least one win against a team that was no Big East pushover. Both Pittsburgh and West Virginia had 4-4 conference records. There was nothing that would indicate a win was inevitable.

‘Upsets can happen,’ LaMarche said. ‘We just have to play our (butt) off, and so far we haven’t quite seen that in a whole match.’

That can’t be said anymore. From the very start of the match against West Virginia, the Orange was more amped up for a needed victory in what was as close to a playoff atmosphere as possible. If there were any questions of whether or not Syracuse could play well for an entire match, they were answered when the Orange battled West Virginia for a win.

SU responded to the urgency, knowing the ramifications that one more loss could have. Still, it wasn’t perfect. Syracuse didn’t win it with the greatest of ease or the most perfect performance. At times, it seemed as if West Virginia was on the cusp of a comeback, only to give the momentum back to Syracuse.

‘Every once in a while, we had some where we would get back,’ middle blocker Samantha Hinz said. ‘There was one point where they had a seven-point run on us. We’re eventually able to come back, but we should never have that big of a run.’

But now it won’t make much sense for the Orange to look at what could have gone wrong against the Mountaineers. All that matters is Syracuse got a win it needed to possibly save its season.

Now it’s the start of a new season for SU. It’s the final push, the final grind the Orange will have to go through to climb into conference’s top eight for a spot in the playoffs. With four matches remaining, that may seem daunting.And although it may be tough, there’s no choice for the Orange. SU needs to keep winning.

‘I think it’s been kind of hard when we look at what we need to do to make it to the Big East tournament,’ Hinz said. ‘It’s starting to get really desperate.’

cjiseman@syr.edu

 

Published on October 31, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman