Syracuse Volleyball vs Boston College
By Josh Solomon | @JoshSolo29
This week included two matches for Syracuse Volleyball and both were against the same opponent, Boston College. SU and BC were each given a home game and both for each team were its senior nights.
The first game was played this past Wednesday at the Women’s Building. – Sydney Moore, Ava Palm, Sara Wasiakowska, Elizabeth Schuster, Nikki Shimao and Klara Zarnovicka. Laila Smith were all honored after the match for their contributions to the program. However, SU was more focused on defeating BC during the game. The Eagles and the Orange split the first two sets. Boston College took the first set going on a 5-0 run to take control late. They held on to win the frame, 25-20. The second set was for the ‘Cuse who won by the same scoreline as the previous set, 25-20. In the third set, BC put the pedal to the metal and were up 17-9 about halfway through. The squad didn’t look back and won the third set 25-16. It was a clear momentum shift and showing of domination by the Eagles. That didn’t stop Syracuse from fighting back. Boston College might have been up 21-20 at one point in the fourth set however the final score was 25-22 Syracuse. The Orange had forced the Eagles to set five.
BC started the fifth set strong plowing ahead 6-2. What was shown in this match though was SU’s resilience and it was evidence in the fifth set. Middle blockers Sydney Moore and Zharia Harris-Waddy contributed to the comeback with rejections at the net. The Orange battled back to a 10-10 scoreline and eventually a 14-14 game. The fifth set went to an electric tie of 17-17 before Boston College won the next two points and the match 3-2 over Syracuse. Grad student Sydney Moore tallied a career-best 11 blocks, which marked her as the second Syracuse player to reach double figures in blocks this season. Redshirt freshman Skylar George finished the match with 18 kills, just one shy of her career high. However, the outside hitter didn’t even play in the first set making her statline all the moer impressive.
After the match, SU head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam reflected on the impact of the graduating students on the team.
“This class has done a tremendous job,” Ganesharatnam said. “They’ve really helped bring leadership on the court and off the court and helped our younger players develop. They’ve done a really good job and we are really thankful they are here. We wish them nothing but the best in their future. They are going to do great in whatever they choose to do.”
For Boston College’s senior day in Chestnut Hill, the Eagles were fueled by second-half sparks. But first, Syracuse took care of the first set 26-24. It was the first time the Orange had won the first set of a match in over a month (October 23rd). SU scored the final five points in a row to take the set. The ‘Cuse rode that momentum into both the second and third sets. However, it didn’t matter because the Eagles were hungry for their pray. The Orange started the second set ahead 8-2 and then BC clawed its way back winning the last six points of the set and taking it 25-18.
Then, in the third set, Syracuse was ahead 8-3, but, Boston College continued to fight and won that set 25-23. So, at this point a whole lot of second-half comebacks were seen by BC but did SU have one up its sleeve as well?
Boston College started the fourth set ahead 8-1 but Syracuse climbed back and made the score 8-7. Both SU and BC traded points throughout the middle half of the set before Boston College pulled ahead 19-15 and didn’t look back. Four points in a row led to a 25-22 fourth set and match victory for the second time of the week as Boston College took down Syracuse.
With these losses, Syracuse moves to 14-16 and a 2-16 record in ACC play. SU has two more games left in the 2024 season to finish with an even .500 record. Both of those matches are against opponents the Orange played five sets with this season. California, who Syracuse was reverse swept and Virginia Tech where SU got its first conference victory in nearly two seasons. The first of those is Cal in the Women’s Building on Wednesday at 1 p.m. It’s the ‘Cuse’s final home match of the season.
