Syracuse (5-12, 4-3 Atlantic Coast) beat Clemson (5-13, 0-7) in four close sets, 3-1, on Friday, kicking off its longest road trip of the season.

Santita Ebangwese and Leah Levert led the Orange in kills, scoring 14 and 13 respectively. Levert led the team in blocks with nine.

Syracuse fell to Clemson in the first set, 25-22. Clemson scored the first four points of the set and was leading 7-4 when the Orange came back with a four-point run, overtaking the Tigers 8-7. The two teams were knotted at 15 points apiece but then Clemson charged ahead to take a 19-16 lead and eventually take the set.

The Orange came back, winning the next three sets, though. Each of the three were relatively back and forth. A big moment for Syracuse came in the second set when it was down 11-16. SU scored 11 of the next 14 points to go up 22-19. It kept the lead until the 25-23 final.

The third and fourth sets went very similar to the second, ending 27-25 and 25-23 respectively. The lead switched often between the two teams.

Through four sets, the score was tied 43 times.

The win was SU’s third straight against Clemson.

The orange will continue its road trip on Sunday against Georgia Tech (14-5, 5-2).

Published on October 14, 2016 at 10:07 pm

Contact Kaci: klwasile@syr.edu