Less than 48 hours after a disappointing five-set loss to South Florida, Syracuse was at it again with similar results, dropping a match with Niagara in five sets. 

The loss was the Orange’s first-ever defeat to the Purple Eagles. 

Unlike the match against the Bulls, SU (9-6, 0-1 Big East) lost the opening set to Niagara (9-7, 3-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) 25-19 when the Purple Eagles scored four of the final six points of the set. 

Syracuse bounced right back in the second to take the set 25-19.

The third set was a back-and-forth affair with a handful of lead changes. SU ultimately took control thanks to five kills each from sophomore Erin Little and freshman Nicolette Serratore to earn a 27-25 victory and put Syracuse one set away from victory. 

In the fourth set, it appeared the Orange was going to leave Niagara with a hard-fought, four-set victory as SU led for much of the first half of the set. Niagara was able to battle back, and the Purple Eagles scored back-to-back points to break a 24-all tie and send the match to a deciding fifth set. 

The fifth and final set was better for Syracuse than its fifth set against USF, but it still didn’t play out the way the team had hoped. The Orange led for portions of the final set, but with the score tied at 14, the Purple Eagles scored back-to-back points again to seal the victory.

SU will stay in New York state next weekend as it travels to the city to take on St. John’s in another matchup with an in-state rival. A victory would push Syracuse to .500 in the Big East before a date with Connecticut in Storrs, Conn., on Sunday. 

— Compiled by David Wilson, staff writer, dbwilson@syr.edu

Published on September 25, 2011 at 12:00 pm