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After California overcame a two-set deficit to reverse-sweep Syracuse, head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam was devastated since he believed his team had “more than a realistic chance to beat Cal.”

“It felt like somebody went into my chest and took my heart out and stomped on it and drove on it and backed up and drove on it again,” Ganesharatnam said.

In the aftermath of the loss, Syracuse saw many things it liked against California and in all of the games in the Atlantic Coast Conference so far despite being 0-7 in conference play. SU’s next test was against Miami, which beat No. 7 Texas when it was ranked No. 1 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

The Orange looked to combine moments from their ACC play into a complete performance to get back in the win column. However, Syracuse (12-7, 0-7 ACC) failed to do so falling in straight sets to Miami (12-6, 3-4 ACC). It marked the Orange’s seventh straight 2024 loss and 29th straight ACC loss.

Miami came out of the blocks hot with a 5-1 lead highlighted by a service ace from Ariana Rodriguez and a trio of kills from Ashley Carr, Grace Lopez and Ava Carney. Lopez is fourth in the ACC in kills and registered eight against the Orange.

Rodriguez is second in the ACC in assists. Of her 583 assists this season, over 30% have come against ACC opponents. The Hurricanes recorded 10 more assists than the Orange.

From there, Miami kept on controlling the first set’s pace. Another kill from Lopez hit Veronica Sierzant in the face and went out of play, rounding up a 7-0 run for the Hurricanes at 14-5. Back-to-back kills from Zharia Harris-Waddy cut the lead to 18-11. Harris-Waddy and Sara Wasiakowska tied for the most kills (six) for Syracuse against Miami. Ava Palm, who leads the Orange with 207 kills this season, only registered three on the night.

“Everybody on the team is capable of getting double-digit kills,” Harris-Waddy said. “We just have to work really hard in transition and then put the ball away.”

One of Palm’s three kills put the score at 23-15 in favor of the Hurricanes. A Harris-Waddy service error and a Flormarie Colon block put the Orange down in the first set.

Miami continued to dominate the Orange in the second set. Through the first two sets, the Orange never held the lead.

A big rally and recovery from the Hurricanes opened the door to a Colon kill and a 5-2 Hurricane lead. Colon notched 11 kills in the victory, adding to her total of 232. Another Wasiakowska kill was overshadowed by Miami’s 3-0 run that stretched its lead to 8-3.

The Hurricanes continued to add to their advantage. A Colon service ace marked a 4-1 run for Miami, taking the lead to 15-6. Kills from Dalia Wilson and Lopez extended that to 21-11. The Hurricanes’ 5-1 run, highlighted by kills from Colon, Lopez and Rodriguez along with a block from Carr, sealed the second set at 25-13.

“We talked about how we need to manage the first half and then be ready when we get the opportunities so we can seize on them,” Ganesharatnam said. “That’s kind of what we were working on and maybe when we have those moments we can pull it all together and get the win we want.”

It wasn’t until the third set that Syracuse showed what it could do with its backs against the wall. Miami began the set with a 2-0 advantage, but the Orange were committed to changing the outcome of the last set compared to the first two.

“It was pretty simple. We had to be way more urgent because we weren’t playing with urgency in the first two sets,” Harris-Waddy said.

A pair of digs from Nikki Shimao led to a Sydnie Waller kill. From there, the Orange went on a 9-3 run, earning their first lead of the night at 10-5.

“Some of the basics were really much better in that third set compared to the first two sets,” Ganesharatnam said. “The energy level, the effort, but also the belief that we can actually do this against a really good Miami team.”

In the third set, Skylar George came alive. The redshirt freshman recorded all five of her kills and all two of her blocks in the final set. A George kill extended Syracuse’s lead to 14-6.

A 6-1 run for the Hurricanes cut the lead to three at 15-12, forcing Ganesharatnam to take a timeout. After the timeout, a Carr kill and block and a kill from Lopez tied the game at 16-16. From then on, Syracuse and Miami traded blows, eventually leading to a one-point lead for Syracuse at 22-21 after an Ashlee Gnau ace.

Two kills from Rodriguez and one from Colon, combined with a bad set by Sierzant, allowed Miami to come back and win the set 25-22.

Published on October 18, 2024 at 10:51 pm

Contact Quinn: qdpostma@syr.edu