A season of high hopes and expectations came to an abrupt ending for the Syracuse volleyball team Friday.

After making the Big East tournament, one of the team’s season-long goals, Syracuse’s season was cut short by Louisville, 3-0, in the first round of the tournament.

‘I’m not sure what more we could have done to win this game,’ assistant coach Carol LaMarche said in a telephone interview after the match. ‘They only out-blocked us by two. It can’t get much closer than that. A point here and a point there different would have really changed the outcome. The fact that we lost in three sets does not necessarily show how close this match was.’

This Big East tournament first-round matchup between third-seeded Louisville and sixth-seeded Syracuse was a rematch from earlier in the season, when the Cardinals took the Orange 3-1, and three of the four sets were decided by seven points or more. This time around, SU kept it close despite losing in three sets (27-29, 17-25, 24-26).

Unlike in the team’s first meeting, the Orange was able to contain Louisville’s six-foot-six outside hitter and middle blocker, Jana Matiasovska. Or at least contain her as much as an All-Big East first team selection could be contained.

Matiasovska had a match-high 16 kills, but the SU blockers said she was kept somewhat in check.

‘I pretty much was able to get as high as a I could and get the little touches on her ball,’ junior Sarah Morton said by telephone afterward. ‘I think our team handled (the Louisville attack) pretty well. We did a great job of hitting around the block on offense. We used (Matiasovska) to our advantage and hit it off her arms. We hit around her.’

When the two teams got together in the regular season, Matiasovska led all players with a game-high four solo blocks to go along with 11 kills.

But it took a solid effort from the entire Cardinals team to stymie the Orange (17-15, 8-7 Big East) on Friday. The first set was close, a 29-27 win by Louisville. It could have easily gone in favor of the Orange if it were not for rare barrage of service errors and a costly miscommunication on the final point of the set.

‘It was just an easy ball that (Shanetha McLaurin and I) thought each other were going to take,’ junior captain Kacie MacTavish said by telephone. ‘It never really happens between us. We both just thought each other was going to take it.

‘I don’t think it hung-over us. It sucked that the game ended that way, but there were a couple of points we could have won the set on earlier.’

The Orange came out flat in the second set. It fell behind 18-9 before mounting a small comeback and eventually falling 25-17.

‘It put a real downer on the team, and it was a little hard for us to get pumped up after losing a close set that way,’ LaMarche said of the first set error. ‘Louisville picked up their blocks in the second set, and after the second set, they had all the momentum, and it was hard for us to come back from that.’

The Orange struggled all season when losing the first set. It finished the season 4-14 when falling behind early, but posted a 13-1 record when winning the first set.

Part of what helped the Orange maintain its leads throughout the season was the leadership and experience of its five seniors. Fifth-year senior April Quigley spearheads a group of five players who are leaving SU after the season. She has seen three 20 win teams during her time at SU.

Regardless, senior Brittany Kern believes the 2008 Orange is the most talented of these teams.

‘Hands down,’ Kern said. ‘This has been the best team I have played with. All the girls are so talented. It was unreal. More than I could have ever hoped for.’

dfbaer@syr.edu

Published on November 22, 2008 at 12:00 pm