Volleyball opens home ACC play with a 3-1 victory over Cal
Volleyball opens home ACC play with a 3-1 victory over Cal
The Orange put on a show while honoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month with their “Pink Out” Night.
The Syracuse Women’s Volleyball team defeated the California Golden Bears 3-1, in a game honoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month with “Pink Out” Night.
“We all have someone that were playing for, whether it’s like you said, family member or someone you know, and we just keep that in the back of our mind because we just play our hardest for everyone out there,” said freshman Marie Laurio.
It was a packed house at the Women’s building for the Orange, with Otto and the fans cheering with their team-provided pink rally towels.
“This was by far the biggest crowd we had, and the crowd was great, engaged and really rallied behind the team,” head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said.
With the home ACC opener for the Orange, the competition was not going to be easy, as the Bears defeated the Orange in both matches they met last season.
Syracuse and Cal have a lot in common, with both coming into tonight’s match with a 2-2 conference record and falling in their latest matches. They also have similar rosters with both squads.
The redshirt-sophomore Skylar George made impactful plays early in the first set with multiple tips leading to early points for the Orange. Outside hitter Gabriella McLaughlin didn’t start the game, but she got subbed in early and made impact plays through the middle and later stretches of the first set, leading the Orange with eight kills.
The Bears gained six points from the Orange’s attack errors, led by Ashley Li with six kills and Hayden Mikayla with three kills.
The Orange held on at the end of the first set, winning 25-21.
In set two, the Orange got off to a hot start with the team jumping out to a 10-2 lead.
“We did a good job of putting our hitters in good positions to score,” said Ganesharatnam.
The Golden Bears flipped the script, recording 9 of the following 10 points, tying it up 11 all, halfway through the set.
Ashley Li and Hayden Mikayla continued their presence in the set by recording multiple big-time kills and blocks.
The Golden Bears battled hard in the second set, but ultimately, just like the first, it led to a win for the Orange, 25-22.
In the third set, the Orange once again went on the offensive attack as they jumped out to a fierce 9-2 lead, and even later in the set, were up 18-12. But just like the second set, Cal came back strong, winning the set 26-24.
“I thought they put a lot of pressure on our attackers with the block. I think their blocking was lined up very well,” said Ganesharatnam.
The Golden Bears converted their best attacking percentage of the night, converting 14 kills out of 32 total attempts for a .312 percentage.
Going into set number four, the Golden Bears carried the momentum over they generated from the previous set, quickly gaining on the Orange with a 4-2 lead. The back-and-forth affair stretched in the fourth.
Later, in the set, head coach Ganesharatnam subbed freshman outside hitter Marie Laurio, who made an immediate impact, recording two kills.
“I lean on my setters, they put me in a great position to make the plays, and when I know what’s open, so just honestly like leaning on each other and helping each other out has been really huge when coming in the game late,” said Laurio.
McLaughlin, the team’s captain, recorded the final kill of the set for the Orange, defeating the Golden Bears 28-26 in set four and beating them 3-1 in four sets.
McLaughlin led the Orange with 21 kills and a .218 attack percentage.
Li and Mikayla for the Golden Bears would record kills each, and both would do so at an efficient rate.
Both Laurio and McLaughlin said the matchup was challenging, and it showcased the grittiness of their squad. They added the team looks to continue to put its toughness on display throughout the season.
Syracuse moves to 3-2 in ACC play this season, sitting 7th in the conference, as they look to close out their weekend against No.6 Stanford this Sunday at 1 p.m. inside the Women’s Building.
is a contributor for The NewsHouse.
is a photographer for The NewsHouse.