Syracuse volleyball beats Cal 3-1 for 3rd ACC win of season
Backed by a stronger fanbase after head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam's words last month, Syracuse fought off a late Cal comeback to claim a four-set win. Charlie Hynes | Staff Photographer
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Following Syracuse’s loss to Colgate on Sept. 13, Syracuse head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam addressed SU fans bluntly.
“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,” Ganesharatnam said postgame. “This crowd can help this team. They should get off the phone and get into the match and make some noise.”
Ever since that moment, Syracuse fans circled the Oct. 10 game against California as the day to “pack the Women’s Building.” With the Syracuse football team on a bye, Friday’s match against Cal was an opportunity for the volleyball team to steal the spotlight on campus.
And the Orange fans answered Ganesharatnam’s plea — showing up in flocks to tailgate and cheer on Syracuse in its conference home opener. The raucous crowd pushed Syracuse (11-4, 3-2 Atlantic Coast) to a 3-1 victory over California (5-10, 2-3 ACC). The serve proved to be the deciding factor, with SU registering nine aces to Cal’s one. The Golden Bears also couldn’t overcome 12 service errors.
“We need the crowd,” Ganesharatnam said with a smile before the game. “The crowd can be the deciding factor to (winning) more matches in the ACC.”
While Syracuse consistently struggled in the back half of sets against Cal, the Orange inversely dominated the opening portion of each set. Gabriella McLaughlin, fresh off a season-high 23 kills against Virginia, fired the ball down the left side for a kill to take an 8-6 lead in the first set. The Nevada transfer was equally dominant against the Golden Bears, recording 21 kills.
Coming into the game, Ganesharatnam’s plan was clear: establish the drop shot early. On almost every point in the first set, SU attempted or executed a drop shot. A few points later, McLaughlin’s landed in between multiple Cal defenders to give SU a 10-7 advantage. After holding their lead for the remainder of the set, Mikayla Hayden’s attempt landed wide, and the Orange took the first frame 25-21.
Syracuse carried that momentum into the second set. Following some unforced Cal errors, SU’s Zharia Harris-Waddy made it 5-1 after her serve took a lucky bounce off the net and landed softly at the feet of the Golden Bears’ frontline. That lead ballooned to eight, as Tehya Maeva and Soana Lea’ea co-blocked Grace Agolli at the net.
Cal battled back to tie the frame at 11-11 after Maria Stirbu and Hayden rejected McLaughlin. But SU continued to excel on serves, and Cal faltered. A McLaughlin service ace made it 24-21 SU. From there, Skylar George executed a block from the left side to put Syracuse up 2-0 in the match.
The third set featured the same pattern, as Syracuse jumped out to an early lead. Everything was going the Orange’s way until they got to set point, leading 24-29.
A season ago, in the first-ever ACC meeting between the two programs, Syracuse similarly built a two-set lead and looked primed to close the Golden Bears out in straight sets as it led 22-20. But Cal stole the set with a 5-1 run — the spark needed to complete a stunning comeback.
On Friday, SU experienced some déjà vu, succumbing to a 6-0 Cal run to force a fourth set. Just as crucial, the Golden Bears’ surge sucked the life out of the crowd, which had been on its feet and chanting cohesively for the majority of the frame.
In its first four conference games, Syracuse was out-blocked three times. Facing California, which allows the most blocks per set (2.62) in the ACC, could have been exactly what the Orange needed to get the block on track.
But Syracuse was out-blocked 17-10 by Cal, with seven of the Golden Bears’ blocks coming in that key third-set victory.
Both teams battled to begin the fourth set, with multiple unforced errors preventing either side from gaining a substantial lead. A McLaughlin drop shot, however, put Syracuse up 10-7, and that advantage quickly grew to 13-8. Just as it looked like SU might pull away, Ashley Li notched a kill, and a few points later, Hayden blocked off George to cut the deficit to 15-13.
Sydnie Waller, who enjoyed a breakout performance against Cal in 2024, skied alongside Harris-Waddy to record a co-block on Dominique Phills, putting the Orange up 21-19. After checking in for George late in the set, Marie Laurio altered her hand angle at the last second and fired the ball down the line to make it 24-21.
But again, SU was forced to deal with Cal’s late-set heroics. Li had just 12 kills coming into the game, but her 17th of the night gave the Golden Bears a 25-24 lead. From there, both sides traded points until McLaughlin called her own number.
Syracuse’s kill leader tooled the block, and California’s Francesca Popescu couldn’t keep the point alive, giving Syracuse a dramatic 28-26 victory. The crowd erupted in jubilation, finally fulfilling Ganesharatnam’s wish.
