Eagles crash Senior Night, win fifth set to beat Syracuse

Despite fighting back from set deficits twice, Syracuse Volleyball lost to Boston College 3-2 on Senior Night. The Orange’s records now stands at 14-15

Despite fighting back from set deficits twice, the Orange arguably showed the most resilience in the final set when they trailed 14-11. Syracuse saved three consecutive match points to tie the match at 14. That wasn’t all; SU fended off an additional 2 BC match points before falling 19-17. 

Syracuse came into the contest losing two straight, dropping all six sets.

After conceding the first set 25-20, the Orange flipped the score in the second, with a match-high fifteen kills and match-low two attack errors. It was Syracuse’s first set with 15 kills since they beat Notre Dame at home on Nov. 10th. The Orange hadn’t made two or fewer attack errors in a full set since they faced California on Nov. 12th.

The third set was challenging, as Syracuse dropped the match’s least competitive set 25-16. The team bounced back with a 25-22 fourth-set victory.

The Orange’s serving game undoubtedly played a huge role in pushing the match to a fifth set. Syracuse served six aces in the fourth set alone, which lands above their season-long match average. 

“I thought the serving was pretty good, especially later in the match,” head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said.

“I thought Emma did a tremendous job. Got us multiple runs, and we wanted to make sure she gets to serve twice in that fifth set,” he said, praising freshman Emma Ortiz.

Even with the loss, Ganesharatnam was pleased with his team’s fight.

“The match is not won in a set or two, right? You have to win three sets, and we know that,” Ganesharatnam said. 

Following last night’s game, Syracuse recognized the six graduating seniors and graduate students on the roster: Sydney Moore, Ava Palm, Sara Wasiakowska, Elizabeth Schuster, Nikki Shimao, and Klara Zarnovicka. These six players have had an immense impact on the team’s season; they were responsible for almost half of SU’s kills and a third of the team’s digs.

In addition to their on-court impact, Ganesharatnam commended the seniors and graduate students for their leadership as well.

“They helped us to bring leadership on the court and off the court and were a connection between the coaching staff and the younger players on the court,” he said.

After the ceremony concluded, libero Shimao reflected on her season with Syracuse. The graduate student from Hawaii played her first four seasons at Temple, two of which were under Ganesharatnam.

“Looking at this season, you know, we’ve had our two ACC wins, we were undefeated in preseason. There’s so much for this team to be thankful for and to be proud of, and so I’m excited to see how they do next season,” Shimao said. 

Syracuse has three games remaining on their schedule. On Sunday, the Orange will be in Chestnut Hill for a rematch against Boston College. SU’s final home match is next Wednesday, the 27th, at 1 pm.