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When Syracuse needs a spark, it turns to Reese Teves. The sophomore’s 22 aces are tied for second on the team. She’s only appeared in 63 sets and almost never starts, but Orange head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam and Co. get her into nearly every match.

Teves is most effective defensively, trickling in 106 digs. She has a knack for making highlight diving attempts at balls sailing out of bounds to keep them alive for second and third touches. It occurs on at least one occasion every match.

Syracuse didn’t have that luxury Friday. Teves was nowhere to be seen in warmups. Ganesharatnam confirmed that she’ll be out Sunday against Georgia Tech, too. Someone needed to step up.

In Syracuse’s (13-10, 5-8 Atlantic Coast) loss to Clemson (15-10, 3-10 ACC) Friday, the weight Teves carried fell onto the shoulders of SU’s pin hitters. Although they’re positioned on the front corners, they were tasked with combatting the Tigers’ ruthless attack, which recorded 64 kills at a 28.2% clip.

Gabriella McLaughlin had an unorthodox day for her standards. She’s recorded a kill in every set this season. That changed Friday, as the senior was left with a goose egg in the first frame. However, her defense kept SU afloat.

Khaya Gordon, Mia Moore and Nil Okur combined for nearly 77% of Clemson’s kills. But McLaughlin was always ready. She provided six digs, many of which she dived low on the floor for. Her versatility kept SU alive.

“She’s 5-foot-8 and facing a block that is 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4,” Ganesharatnam said. “She’s doing a really good job making adjustments, finding ways and also contributing other ways when the offense is not going well for her. She does a lot for us in serve receive and defense.”

To prepare for the Tigers’ vicious attack, the Orange needed insurance from someone besides Rana Yamada, who’s been reliable defensively all season. The junior leads Syracuse with 302 digs. In a five-set victory at Boston College on Oct. 22, Yamada tallied 25, the most by an SU player in Ganesharatnam’s tenure.

And McLaughlin’s had her back all season. The Nevada transfer’s 249 digs rank second behind Yamada, and she has 56 more than any other Orange player. She started the season with four straight double-doubles, and after Friday, has 12 on the season — more than half of SU’s contests. Her season-best 17 digs came in Syracuse’s first ACC match, a four-set sweep over Notre Dame.

Although SU continued dropping sets, McLaughlin was never deterred. She still delivered six more digs and also showed off her two-way prowess. The captain notched 11 of her 14 kills on the day in the following two sets. If something isn’t going McLaughlin’s way, she’ll be up to the challenge to find another way to make an impact.

“They ran some two plays, and then they moved the pin-hit us around, which really put a challenge on blockers,” Ganesharatnam said.

McLaughlin’s been capable of performances like this for a while, so this was expected. It was also expected that another defensive specialist could fill the hole of Teves, so SU called on Emma Ortiz. Things didn’t go to plan, though.

Ortiz was on the serve for the first two points of the match, but once she made an attack error when the ball ricocheted off her hands and over Syracuse’s bench, her time was nearly up. She spent the rest of the game making brief cameos in just two sets.

It was uncharacteristic of Ortiz after her showing versus Cal on Oct. 10, when she totaled 12 digs and two aces to make up for Teves’ absence. But Friday, SU’s coaching staff decided it would be better to have a right-side hitter in the back so an extra middle blocker could sit up front.

At times, it was Sydnie Waller up front, providing the offense. She totaled six kills on a 29.4% clip, the second-highest mark for the Orange. But to combat the Tigers’ strong and distant punches at the net, Ganesharatnam opted for Laurio to sit in the back.

Normally, Laurio is an attacker. She is slightly over two weeks removed from logging a career-high 10 kills against BC. But the freshman also notched another career-best mark in that game, registering 13 digs.

Laurio topped that in four sets Friday. Sitting in the back, she only recorded one attack which didn’t amount to a kill, but her 16 digs even bested Yamada.

“Fire. She’s amazing. She’s a dog,” Waller said of Laurio’s performance. “She’s a scrappy little freshman.”

Although the Orange were bested by a squad that came into Friday tied for the least ACC victories, they proved that no matter who’s on the court, they’ll be a force to be reckoned with defensively. SU’s 14.48 digs per set rank fifth in the conference, and it’s on pace for its best ranking in the category in five years.

“I thought we worked very hard to make the adjustment and get some good touches and then some blocks,” Ganesharatnam said.

Published on November 7, 2025 at 10:28 pm
jaglick@syr.edu | @jason_glick