STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The raucous Penn State crowd roared as the Nittany Lions (25-7, 14-6 Big Ten) earned the match-winning point to sweep Syracuse (18-9, 14-4 Atlantic Coast) in straight sets, 3-0. But as Penn State players left the court after the post-game handshake line, every SU player and coach gathered a bit somberly in a circle for several minutes.

For the Orange’s six seniors, it was their final game.

“We worked hard all season guys, do not hang your heads,” senior Santita Ebangwese said on what was talked about in the gathering. “We made history. We made the tournament and we made it past the first round and we put up a hell of a fight against Penn State. There’s nothing we should be sad about and make sure we build upon this in the following years for the upcoming players.”

On top of SU seniors’ first tournament run, Ebangwese earned first-team All-ACC honors this season and Amber Witherspoon made it onto the second team. Jalissa Trotter accounted for 885 assists. Led by Amber Witherspoon’s 162 blocks and Ebangwese’s 144, the Orange entered the weekend ranked second in the country in blocks per set.

Leading Syracuse to its best record since 2015 (when they were freshmen), the Orange qualified for its first ever NCAA tournament. Last night against Yale, with instrumental performances from the seniors, SU earned its first ever tournament win.

“I think our record speaks for itself,” head coach Leonid Yelin said on the impact of his seniors. “We are here because of our senior class.”

For Witherspoon, a former basketball player, the four years as part of Syracuse’s volleyball gave her a chance to learn the game at a very high level. She said post-game that it meant a lot to her.

But, she hoped she gave back to the program in return.

“I just hope that the legacy, like I’ve been saying, the seniors before us left, that we have done that much for our freshman and incoming Orange women,” Witherspoon said. “It means that a lot and means a lot that everyone’s hard work, we finally got a reward for it. And it’s good that we can finally see where we can go.”

Despite the strong season and career for the seniors, the Orange struggled on Saturday night. The match started to spiral in the first set for the Orange as an early 9-4 lead put Penn State up 14-6. It didn’t get much better as Penn State won the set, 25-13.

The second set was much closer, with the Orange at one point up 15-10.

“These four years we’ve had struggles, we’ve had ups and downs but it taught us to be the people we are today,” Ebangwese said. “Especially for our class we learned how to fight. We might be tired, push through it. We might have to pick up our teammates but that’s okay because in the real world stuff like that’s going to happen, too.”

However, Penn State fired back, turning SU’s lead into a quick deficit. The Nittany Lions would finish on a 7-3 run, taking the set 25-22.

In the third set, a 10-2 run by Penn State widened to 16-8, too large a lead for the Orange to surmount in a straight-set loss. But as the game wound down, Ebangwese remained smiling and continued to infect her teammates with her energy.

“If you know her as a player, that’s her everyday, every game,” Witherspoon said. “And that’s why she’s so great because she’s smiling all the time no matter what.”

During a timeout near the end of the match, Ebangwese looked around the arena, crouched over to catch her breath. But she said she was not thinking about her career nearing its end.

Ebangwese said she just wanted the team to go out with a fight, to give it all she is capable of on the collegiate game’s biggest stage.

“So that’s why I was smiling,” Ebangwese said. “We were playing balls to the wall and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

Published on December 1, 2018 at 10:36 pm

Contact Eric: estorms@syr.edu