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After Syracuse lost its second consecutive match to Colgate Saturday in front of a Women’s Building crowd decked out in red and white Raiders apparel, head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam called out the Orange faithful.

“My message to the fans is that they shouldn’t get outlasted by the Colgate fans. This is Syracuse, and we have a handful of Colgate fans, and they were louder than the entire gym,” he said postgame. “This crowd can help this team. They should get off the phone and get into the match and make some noise.”

During Marie Laurio’s and Oreva Evivie’s postgame press conference, Ganesharatnam continued to voice his frustration.

“Colgate played Syracuse in football, and (it) had 15 (fans). I have not seen our band in two years in our gym. What are they doing? We have more than one team to support,” he added.

“If you watch our team off the court, or anywhere, you’re going to see how passionate we are,” Laurio added moments later. “And if we have our fans behind us, that’s just going to get us even more riled up during the games. And that’s what we need in moments like that.”

At the end of their second set Friday, the Orange led the Saints 24-14. They had won 11 frames at home in 2025, and the fans remained seated each time. But this moment was different.

SU’s fans stood up, put their phones down and delivered a boisterous round of applause as Veronica Sierzant spiked a ball at Elizabeth Phillips’ hands. It bounced out of play off her fingertips, and the Women’s Building erupted in jubilation immediately after.

Syracuse (7-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) outshined Siena (3-7, 0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic) in the stands and on the scoreboard Friday. It commandingly dispatched the Saints in three sets to claim a victory in the first of two matches in the Syracuse Invitational.

Slow starts have plagued SU recently, and Siena took advantage of that to jump out to a 5-1 lead. Berra Tok slotted the volleyball low, and Reese Teves couldn’t get under it for the fourth point of a dominant Saints stretch.

Syracuse plowed its way back into the set, as Gabriella McLaughlin’s spike from the left side reverberated throughout the Women’s Building. Although it trailed 5-3, the energy shifted.

SU claimed its first lead following a Piper Willinger substitution. A 6-4 Siena lead soon became 7-6 Syracuse when her serve skimmed the net and dropped into play for her second kill of 2025.

Once Syracuse moved ahead, it didn’t look back. Evivie put the frame out of reach when she smacked the ball down at the net to bump the Orange up 22-17. They won the set 25-19, and that would be the best fight the Saints put up all night.

SU prioritized a 6-2 formation as opposed to a 5-1 Friday, and it utilized the tactic for the second set. This allowed the Orange to play both Tehya Maeva and Sierzant together at setter.

“I think it’s really great that we have that option, and I think me and Veronica are both super dynamic,” Maeva said. “She’s a super smart player, so I think it’s great that she can set and also hit, and it really opens our team up a lot and gives us a lot of options.”

Having two setters not only ensured six kills for Skylar George and four for McLaughlin throughout the set, but it also gave Sierzant the flexibility to play like a right-side hitter. Up 7-6, she received a ball from Maeva, dragging it from her right to the left side of the court and out of Mary Claire Deacy’s reach.

“We’re both very good setters. We both know what we’re doing, and so whoever’s on the court, they’re going to run offense really well,” Sierzant said.

Sierzant’s kill was the second of seven consecutive Syracuse points, and it sat comfortably up 13-6. To ensure the Orange kept their foot on the pedal, George continued to bring energy late in the set. She hit Doga Diraz in the groin to make it 19-9 and recorded an ace on the next play. SU triumphed 25-14.

The Saints led 7-5 early in the third set, but the Orange responded with eight consecutive points. After replacing George, Laurio notched four kills on just six attacks and lined the match-clinching point down the left side for SU’s largest margin of victory of the night – 25-10.

In every set, SU got better. A 37.1% hitting percentage improved to 43.8% in the next frame and 61.9% in the final set. A 45.5% overall percentage was not only the highest mark of Syracuse’s season, but it was also the highest since it posted a 48.9% hitting percentage against Ball State over four years ago.

Amid the frustration its two losses generated a week ago, Syracuse found a silver lining and kept the energy positive throughout the week. That mentality showed Friday.

“We had two very competitive matches last weekend and very emotionally draining matches, so it was really nice to have a little break,” Ganesharatnam said. “We threw in a little bit of yoga. Yoga can’t hurt, right? My wife tells me I need to calm down a little bit, so that was really good. We still kept a team together.”

Published on September 19, 2025 at 9:37 pm
jaglick@syr.edu | @jason_glick