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Veronica Sierzant voiced her frustration postgame. Her words have been Syracuse’s story in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

“We were right there,” Sierzant said.

However, against Virginia, something was different. Despite the Cavaliers besting the Orange in kills, attacking attempts, assists and hitting percentage, SU forced five sets in home conference play for the first time since September 2022. In every single home ACC game before Wednesday, Syracuse had been swept.

“We’re competing against programs that have years ahead of us,” SU head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said. “We’re trying to catch up to them in a race where we’re starting way behind them.”

Despite Virginia (16-4, 6-3 ACC) defeating Syracuse (12-9, 0-9 ACC) in five sets, the Orange went head-to-head with a conference foe without besting them in any hitting category. According to Ganesharatnam, the reason why was the second ball from the setter.

“We changed our defense in order to cover that and we were able to pick those balls up that don’t necessarily (show up) in the stat sheet, but I thought that was a really good improvement and adjustment that our team made,” Ganesharatnam said.

A zero service reception is when a player continues the play by successfully passing a served ball, but it doesn’t result in a kill or lead directly to a kill from a teammate. This was one of the only statistics Syracuse had an advantage in.

On the night, Syracuse had 88 compared to UVA’s 86. The Orange also had a .957 reception percentage compared to Virginia’s .915. SU handled Virginia’s serves better to set up its hitters.

In the fourth set, the match went back and forth. Virginia had the chance to seal the match in that set but the Orange stayed alive. A 4-0 UVA run was followed by a 3-0 SU run. A kill from Abby Tadder, who was one of three Cavaliers to have double-digit kills on the night, gave Virginia a 10-9 lead in a decisive fourth set.

As the ball came over to Syracuse’s side, Ava Palm dove and with one hand, dug it up, which eventually made it toward Mira Ledemueller who set it up for Skylar George to deliver a kill. From there, SU went on to win the set 25-22.

Palm, who delivered a season-high 20 kills in the losing effort, recorded 26 zero-service receptions. Captain Nikki Shimao, who played in all five sets for the Orange as a libero, scored 31.

“As long as we continue to believe in what we’re doing, what we’re talking about, what are coaches are telling us and continuing to buy into that, things are going to fall into place,” Shimao said. “I think the biggest thing is we believe it and we’re going to continue to believe, so we just have to execute.”

What separated Virginia and Syracuse was the end product. Compared to the loss against Florida State, SU’s assist total rose by 27 and its assist percentage increased by over 10%.

Virginia totaled 14 more assists than Syracuse at 35.4%, to Syracuse’s 29.4%. With higher-quality passes, Virginia registered 69 kills at a 20.5% clip, only scoring fewer kills than the Orange in the first set.

Sierzant and Mira Ledemueller both recorded more assists at a better percentage than in the loss against Florida State, but it wasn’t enough to defeat UVA.

“We know the losses are there,” Sierzant said. “But, we can’t look back. That’s in the past. You can’t really do anything about it. If we could change the past, everything would be different. But, we should all learn from it and move on.”

Published on October 24, 2024 at 12:49 am

Contact Quinn: qdpostma@syr.edu