Syracuse volleyball swept by Illinois, starts 2026 season 0-2
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Syracuse and Illinois found themselves in eerily similar positions after Fighting Illini outside hitter Alyssa Aguayo won set two to give her squad a controlling 2-0 lead.
On one side were the Orange, who weren’t able to rally in the third set against Cincinnati on Saturday despite keeping the first two sets close. Across the court were the Illini, who let a 2-0 lead slip away on Friday, unable to put away Cincinnati on their home court.
Back in Huff Hall in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, history seemed bound to repeat itself for one of the stricken squads desperately looking for a win.
To the joy of the hometown crowd, the Illini offense didn’t take their foot off the gas in the third set, handing Syracuse (0-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) its second loss in straight sets to Illinois (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten). The Orange, who went six games unbeaten to start last season, are now winless through two matchups against Power Four schools.
“At this stage of the season, we got to use these matches in order for us to improve and work on those things we want to be good at,” head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said. “The idea is to use these matches in order for us to be ready for uncomfortable matches.”
Despite playing an Illinois team with five upperclassmen starters and 12 returners, SU found its stride early, taking an 11-10 lead in the first set after Illinois’s Maya Harris committed a service error.
However, as the first set marched on, the Illini began to shake off the rust from their one-day break. Senior outside hitter Taylor de Boer and junior opposite hitter Paityn Chapman, Illinois’s top two offensive contributors, began to make life difficult for the SU defense.
Illinois’s 21 first-set kills, 12 of those coming from de Boer and Chapman, outpaced Syracuse’s 10 en route to a 25-17 set win for the Illini.
To make matters worse, Ganesharatnam lost his only challenge early attempting to overturn a diving save by Talita Goncalves.
After the first set, Syracuse seemed unable to keep up with Illinois’s high-powered attack. SU went down 12-4 to open the second set, letting two aces slip by during that rut.
Kiernan Stamey tried to hold up Syracuse like Atlas holding up the sky. She was responsible for half of SU’s second set kills while only committing two errors and sporting a hitting percentage over 50%, showing she can be an X-Factor for Syracuse moving forward.
With Stamey’s heroics, the Orange attempted to crawl back into the set, but the Fighting Illini offense continued to dominate. They ended the day with 47 kills and hit at 40%, with 29 of those coming from the dynamic duo of de Boer and Chapman.
However, Syracuse discovered a dynamic duo of its own in Stamey and Marie Laurio. The pair combined for 24 kills and 20 digs, with Laurio recording a double-double for the first time since October 22, 2025.
The rest of SU’s offense stalled out, leaving the team’s hitting percentage at 12.5%, while committing 19 attacking errors. These mistakes proved costly in the second set, losing 25-17 once again.
Syracuse tried to regain its footing in the third set by creating offensive chances, challenging the Illinois defense. Those chances were stymied at the net by Illinois’s middle blockers, with Lindsay Oldendorf leading the way with three blocking contributions. The Illini denied four chances in the third set.
The Illini outproduced Syracuse on defense with 44 digs to SU’s 37, allowing Illinois’ offense to put the match out of reach. Illinois went on to win the third set 25-14 to pick up its first win of the season.
Although the Orange didn’t win a set this weekend, Ganesharatnam said that these games were meant to be learning experiences for Syracuse’s largely inexperienced core.
SU will have time to recalibrate and improve before the uncomfortable matches, but not being able to stand toe-to-toe with unranked Power Four teams doesn’t bode well for the ACC slate.
