Volleyball

Syracuse Volleyball shutout at home against ACC foe Miami 

Syracuse Volleyball Shutout at Home Against ACC Foe Miami

Syracuse Women’s Volleyball Shut Out by Miami Hurricanes in Straight Sets, Struggling to Counter Relentless Attack from the Opening Serve.

Syracuse head volleyball coach speaks to his team
Sadie Jones
Syracuse’s Volleyball Team huddles around their head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam before the start of their second game of the season against Lafayette College on Friday, August 30, 2024.

Syracuse Women’s volleyball got shut out on Friday against the Miami Hurricanes in straight sets. Miami controlled the attack and had the Orange on their heels from the opening serve. 

After a cross-country trip to California, where they matched up with Stanford and Cal, the Orange opened a four-game home stand.

Set 1

Miami got out to a quick lead in the first set, jumping out in front 11-5. Ava Carney had two kills in the first five points of the match to get the momentum rolling early for the visitors. The Orange struggled to generate an attack, ending the first set with a .179 hitting percentage.

The Hurricanes took the first set 25-15 and in dominating fashion. 

Set 2

The second set was a continuation of struggles for Syracuse and control for Miami. The Hurricanes picked up where they left off from the first set, quickly bouncing in front 7-3. Syracuse’s back line struggled to handle Miami senior Yaidaliz Rosando’s serve. Rosando led Miami with three aces. 

The Orange dropped the second set 25-13. The net was controlled by Miami, as they led in the block department 5-1.

The two-headed monsters of Flormarie Deredia Colon and Grace Lopez flexed their muscles, with each having four kills in the middle set. Colon led the way in the kills department for the match, notching 11 of them in total. She sits in the top ten in the conference in that stat, along with Lopez. 

Set 3

The third set was Syracuse’s most competitive of the night. An inspired Orange squad didn’t go down lightly.

After dropping the opening two points of the third, Syracuse rattled off five in a row and nine of the next 11 points. This scoring run put Syracuse in the lead for the first time in the match. Head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said that he thought the movement was much better in the third set compared to the first two, and that allowed Syracuse to stay in the mix.

“I thought the energy level went up and also the belief,” Ganesharatnam said.

A strong run in the middle of the third by the Hurricanes brought them right back into the thick of it. A 12-3 run from the visitors put them back on top 17-16.

In a back-and-forth battle down the stretch, Syracuse found themselves on top 22-21 off of freshman Ashley Gnau’s first ace of the match. During the timeout from coach Jose Gandara for his Hurricanes, whatever message was relayed from Gendara told his team it worked. Miami won four of the next five points after the break and were able to close out the Orange 25-22.

H3 Section Header

This loss was Syracuse’s seventh in a row after a 12-0 start to the year, with all seven of those losses having been ACC matchups. Syracuse is back in action on Sunday when they host No. 19 Florida State. The first serve is set for 1 p.m. in the Women’s Building.