Syracuse volleyball suffers 4th consecutive 3-0 loss in defeat to No. 5 SMU
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Syracuse sat at the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference coming into Friday’s match against SMU. In ACC play, the Orange were dead last in the conference for every main statistic except digs, where they wallowed in 17th among 18 schools.
And yet, SU was up 8-3 on the Mustangs, who were stuck in cruise control in the second set. The Orange hadn’t won a set since Sept. 18 but were in the driver’s seat against the country’s fifth-ranked team.
Even when the Mustangs revved their offensive engine later in the second, the Orange found ways to crawl back.
“Today was so fun. We were right there. We competed. We had a great time on the court,” SU middle blocker Abby Nicholson said. “Everyone’s just putting their full effort out there and did a great job.”
Despite the valiant effort, Syracuse (5-7, 0-3 ACC) couldn’t get the job done in the second set, and SMU (11-2, 3-0 ACC) didn’t give it another chance in the third, winning in straight sets. While serving errors gave the Mustangs fits, their offense overran the Orange with 39 kills, and their block made life difficult for SU hitters. Kiernan Stamey and Yuka Urano tried holding Syracuse up with their highest kills and digs count with 12 and 11, respectively, in ACC play, to no avail.
Syracuse got off to a slow first-set start. Four errors contributed to a 5-0 run for SMU, giving them an 8-4 lead. However, SU didn’t go away so easily. Following one of many Mustangs service errors, Emma Williams curved a serve past SMU to cut the deficit in half.
A Keila Gabriel error didn’t hinder SU’s rally so quickly, as a Stamey kill and bad set by SMU’s Hannah Beauford put the Orange within one at 9-8.
This cycle repeated itself. SU fell behind 11-8 following another Gabriel error; however, Stamey put the ball past the defense again, and SMU reciprocated with an error to make it 11-10.
The Mustangs didn’t let SU get any closer, going on a 6-0 tear to reach an insurmountable 17-10 lead. However, serving made it difficult for SMU to finish the set. Six first-service errors kept SU alive a little longer. Despite this, the Mustangs rode out the serving storm for a 25-18 first-set victory.
SMU’s offensive form didn’t carry over to the second set. The stalling unit had six early errors — four attacking and two serving — to hand SU an 8-3 lead. The Orange responded to a four-point SMU run with back-to-back kills to retain a 10-7 lead.
“We also knew we couldn’t let up the energy, and, so, we just wanted to keep pushing and do the best we can,” Williams said.
However, SMU tied the game at 10 soon after and snapped off another five-point run to take a 15-11 lead in the blink of an eye. The second set was shaping up like a repeat of the first, but the Orange lit a fire in the media timeout.
Out of the gate, SU had a three-point run to make it 15-14. SMU tried keeping the Orange at arm’s length with two kills, but the Orange persisted.
Following a quick back-and-forth exchange, putting SMU up 19-16, Bo Nijenhuis scrapped up an SMU attack and barely got it to Marie Laurio. Urano sent the ball over the net, and SMU’s ensuing attack ended in an error. Williams followed with a kill to, again, put SU within one at 19-18.
“These are really top teams, and it’s really exciting that we were able to get up on them,” Williams said.
However, the Mustangs kicked their offense into second gear while SU sputtered out. SMU terminated chances of an upset win for the Orange with a 6-1 run to take the second set 25-19.
After the close call, SMU’s offense never gave Syracuse another chance. The Mustangs’ offense didn’t experience the same slow start, trading blows with Syracuse until the third set was tied at 10.
However, SU’s offense didn’t have the endurance to keep up with the Mustangs. Another SMU five-point run put it up 15-10, and it didn’t relent until the end.
Both squads put up 12 third-set kills. However, SMU’s offense was flawless with zero attack errors. The Orange committed nine, five courtesy of SMU’s block.
Despite the final score reading 3-0, Stamey and Urano had their performances in ACC play thus far. They led the team in kills and digs, respectively. Stamey kept the offense from stalling, while Urano’s diving saves kept rallies going. Their performances helped SU stand toe-to-toe with one of the nation’s best.
“We have to challenge ourselves or use these matches as challenges and opportunities for us to work on those areas so we can keep developing and getting better,” SU head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said. “And that’s what Kiernan is doing, and that’s what the team is doing too.”
