Syracuse volleyball stymied at net front by No. 4 Louisville in 3-0 defeat
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Syracuse had a 2-0 lead early in the first set and was looking for more. Setter Charis Burge teed up Kiernan Stamey for a quick strike. As Stamey unleashed, Louisville’s Addison Makun and Kalyssa Blackshear sprang up to block the attack. Emma Williams tried her hand at a swing, but Makun and Cabello Nayelis were there to deny her.
Rinse and repeat 9.5 more times, and you have an apt description of SU’s day against Louisville’s block.
The Orange offense had to pick its poison anytime it readied an attack. Would it try to fit it through the 6-foot-3 middle blockers Makun and Brooke Bultema? Or try to get it over 6-foot-5 hitter Blackshear? Either way, the ball seemed to find itself back on SU’s court.
Syracuse’s block couldn’t reciprocate. SU mustered only two blocks in the third, while the Cardinals had 40 kills and hit 36.8%.
The severe mismatch allowed No. 4 Louisville (11-2, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) to take control of the match, winning in straight sets against Syracuse (5-5, 0-1 Atlantic Coast). The Orange couldn’t break the Cardinals’ block, recording a season-low 23 kills and 1% hitting percentage. SU’s last-ranked block tied a season-low mark of two blocks to Louisville’s 11.5.
Louisville’s block was a momentum shifter in the first frame. An aforementioned early block on Stamey opened a Pandora’s box. The Cardinals flew out of a 0-2 hole to take a 5-2 lead — a lead they wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the set.
Later in the set, back-to-back blocks on Stamey and Williams kept Louisville’s 8-0 run alive, giving them an insurmountable 19-7 lead.
Louisville converted the lead into a set win to take a 1-0 match advantage. The set fittingly ended with Chloe Chicoine and Makun denying a last-ditch effort by Keila Gabriel to rack up four blocks in the first set.
The struggles to get through Louisville’s wall persisted into the second. After a back-and-forth to open the set, the Cardinals scored five straight to put them up 11-7. Williams, with the set already spiraling out of SU’s control, tried to snap the streak. Makun and Blackshear met her at the net to extend Louisville’s run to six.
The pair combined for another block, this time on Stamey to go up 15-9. After the Cardinals took a commanding 21-11 lead, Stamey faced the Louisville block again. This time, Bultema and Nayelis did the honors. SU went down 2-0 in the match shortly after.
“It’s not just a very big block, but a very skilled block,” SU head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said. “So it’s very challenging to find ways to score.”
Nothing was trending in Syracuse’s direction going into the third. Louisville had stymied the Orange with seven blocks while SU’s block couldn’t repel a single Cardinal attack.
However, SU recalibrated the block. Stamey, who’d been outplayed by the block thus far, gave the Cardinals a taste of their own medicine early in the third.
The attack took a little more time to adjust. Midway through the third frame, Louisville led 16-7 and added on three more blocks. All the Cardinals needed to do was clean up and they would have a sweep to open ACC play.
However, the Orange didn’t give up so quickly. After trading blows to put Louisville up 18-9, Syracuse’s offense finally broke through the Cardinals’ block. An 8-1 SU run gave it life and momentum as it trailed just 19-17.
“So just being able to go up there and see the blocks…and just be able to hit around blocks,” Maire Laurio said. “They’re huge blocks, but just being able to use techniques and get around them and score.”
Despite the valiant effort, Syracuse couldn’t complete the comeback. A 3-0 run started by a Blackshear and Makun block ended the game. The Orange finished with 22 attack errors — the most of any three-set game this season. Half of those came from blocks.
Syracuse’s weaknesses this season have been blocking and errors. While Ganesharatnam said both are improving, Louisville showed Syracuse still has ways to go.
