Syracuse’s weekend was not the successful one that it hoped for. The Orange (5-7) went just 1-2 in the Purdue Active Ankle Challenge in West Lafayette, Ind., losing to No. 21 Purdue (9-2) in straight sets on Friday followed by a five-set win over Florida International (6-6) and a five-set loss on Saturday to Northern Kentucky (5-8).

Against Purdue, the Orange suffered a tough straight-set defeat. Purdue was able to dominate each set, winning the closest set by eight points.

Gosia Wlaszczuk led the team with seven kills while Erica Handley, who would go on to win all-tournament honors for the first time in her career, paced the team with 17 assists.

On Saturday morning against FIU, the Orange started off slowly, losing the first two sets 25-18 and 25-14. The team rallied, though, fighting back from the two-set deficit to win the match in five sets.

Trailing 9-8 in the fifth set, the Orange rode a 6-0 run to the win. Handley tied her previous career high with 45 assists while Candace Timberlake achieved a personal-best 18 digs.

Later that evening, though, the Orange couldn’t pull out the same magic and was unable to hold on to a 2-1 set lead to lose in the fifth set, 15-11. In the fifth set, with an 8-7 lead, Northern Kentucky took six of the next seven points to claim the victory. Nicolette Serratore achieved her second double-double of the day while Silvi Uattara achieved a season-best 18 kills.

The Orange will play its first Atlantic Coast Conference matches of the year in the Carrier Dome against Florida State and Miami on Sept. 28 and 29, respectively.

—Compiled by Ryan Raigrodski, staff writer, [email protected]

Published on September 22, 2013 at 11:47 pm

Contact Ryan: [email protected]