The Titans showed they were up to the challenge.

Syracuse rebounded from a stunning end to the third set in which Layton scored 15 consecutive points, cruised in the fourth set and won 25-17, 25-14, 18-25, 25-13.

“I feel like they came back (in the fourth set) and didn’t make as many errors,” Titans coach Megan Allred said. “And they were serving tough and they were swinging better and smarter shots, so I feel like they just eliminated their errors and that’s what was the difference.”

After taking the first two sets, Syracuse built an 18-10 lead in the third. Then Layton — specifically, right-side hitter Danelle McKellar — got hot. After the Lancers recorded six straight points to pull within two, McKellar slammed three straight kills to give Layton a 19-18 lead, just its second lead of the match to that point.

After three more Lancers points, the Titans called timeout, their second timeout of the run, but it proved ineffective. Layton closed the set with three more points, capped by another McKellar kill. Her set-clinching kill got over the net despite hitting the top of it, with the ball falling just inside the line on the opposite side of the court.

“She’s left-handed, number one, which isn’t necessarily the most conventional thing, but also, I think we’re known for setting our middles a lot of the time, and we noticed that Syracuse was kind of all over our middles, and so we tried something else offensively and it worked,” Lancers coach Hannah DeYoung said. “She did awesome.”

DeYoung said McKellar’s dominance was indicative of how she consistently plays.

“She’s really smart, she sees the block and she can hit with a lot of range,” DeYoung said. “She can take it down the line, she can hit angles, she can tip – so she kind of does it all for us offensively.”

McKellar finished with 16 kills.

Another key element to the run was the serving of Suzanne Hill, who served Layton to 14 of the 15 points.

“(Suzanne) does a really good job making (the ball) float,” DeYoung said. “She keeps it out in front of her and it moves. … She’s kind of good at being able to hit lots of different things. She can hit it deep on them one second and short on the next, so she keeps them guessing.”

Despite the third-set collapse, Syracuse regrouped. The Titans built a 7-2 lead in the fourth set and the Lancers didn’t get closer than three the rest of the way. Syracuse closed the match with six straight points, fueled by the serving of Avery Ericksen.

Ericksen finished with 10 kills, three service aces, nine digs and two blocks.

Allred said Ericksen has “some big court presence” and has shown great leadership on and off the court.

“She’s kind of an undersized outside hitter, but it doesn’t stop her,” Allred said of the 5-foot-10-inch junior. “She jumps high and takes big swings, and in the weight room, she’s always pushing hard, and that’s something I really love about her.”

Ericksen, who closed out the first set with a kill, was especially effective late in the second set and into the third. She served the Titans to five straight points to end the second set, recording a kill on the second to last point and a service ace on the clincher.

“I’ve been working on my vertical a lot so that’s been helping, and I just work,” Ericksen said. “I hustle as hard as I can. I have to outwork everyone else. No matter how tall they are, I have to work.”

Overall, Syracuse hit .324 for the match with McKinley Barkdull and Brinley Barkdull each registering double-digit kills with 13 and 10, respectively. Mckinley Barkdull hit a sizzling .545, while Brinley Barkdull also had four service aces to go with 10 digs.

Miyah Lish had 25 assists and nine digs, Emily Kenison had three service aces and two blocks, Laney Pendleton had 12 assists and Karlie Hamblin totaled 11 digs for the Titans.

Aubrey Hackett finished with seven kills for the Lancers.

Contact Standard-Examiner sports editor Ryan Comer at rcomer@standard.net.