Syracuse volleyball drops fifth straight in sweep by Georgia

After a 5–4 start to conference play, the second half of the season has proved to be too much for Syracuse volleyball. The Orange lost its fifth straight match and was swept at home 3–0 by Georgia Tech in just over an hour and a half. SU dropped all three sets by seven or more points against the Yellow Jackets.

The Orange were competitive at times in the first two sets, but were plagued by slow starts and fizzled out at the end of each frame. Syracuse has struggled all season against the top half of the ACC and has won just two sets against teams with winning conference records. Despite the continued struggles, head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam still believes his squad is making strides in the right direction.

“It’s not where we want to be,” Ganesharatnam said. “but there were some improvements from last match… and that’s what we want to build on. We’re going to make adjustments … to put ourselves in the best position for the next match.”

It came as no surprise that SU had its hands full on Sunday. The Yellow Jackets entered having won five of their last seven matches and beat current No. 9 Purdue earlier this season. 

Under Ganesharatnam, the Orange have struggled against that kind of pedigree, and today was no different. Georgia Tech’s front row flexed its muscles with 46 kills to Syracuse’s 34, hitting .297 as a team compared to the Orange’s .187.

Syracuse’s front line has faltered throughout its five match skid, and that continued against Georgia Tech. The Orange’s top hitter, senior Gabby McLaughlin, struggled offensively. The senior finished with six kills and six errors for a .000 hitting percentage, all well below her season averages. The 5-foot-8 outside hitter, undersized against the Yellow Jackets’ front row, couldn’t get much going at the net.

With McLaughlin off her game, middle blocker Soana Lea‘ea stepped up in a big way. The graduate student finished with nine kills, her most in ACC play, and a blazing .571 hitting percentage. Ganesharatnam was very pleased with her performance.

“I thought she was terrific, it really shows how good of a performance she had today…We wanted to get her more involved today and did a good job of doing that.”

The Orange also got strong performances from redshirt sophomore outside hitter Skylar George, who posted ten kills, and junior setter Tehya Maeva, who continued her solid season with 26 assists. Defensively, sophomore Emma Ortiz led the team with nine digs.

After a tough stretch, the Orange have a chance to regroup. SU gets a four-day break before facing Wake Forest on Friday. That should be a more manageable matchup, as the Demon Deacons share the same 5–9 conference record. Ganesharatnam and company look to turn things around and close the season on a stronger note.