Volleyball drops hard-fought sweep to No. 5 SMU

The Syracuse volleyball team entered this match scared. It had dropped both of its ACC opening weekend matches to Notre Dame and Louisville, and were now standing across the net from two AVCA Player of the Year contenders  on the Southern Methodist Mustangs. 

Despite a sweep loss and a sizable score difference in both sets, the Orange put up a spirited fight against the nationally fifth-ranked SMU squad, even leading the Mustangs on multiple occasions in the second set. 

Syracuse entered this match 0-2 in conference play, having most recently been swept at home by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. SMU came to the match with the Orange carrying a four-match winning streak, including a sweep victory at home against #12 Stanford. The Mustangs’ resume for the season to this point is impressive, pulling off wins against three top 10 SEC teams in Texas A&M, Texas and Kentucky. 

SMU brought with them two AVCA Preseason All-Americans in sophomore outside hitter Suli Davis and junior middle blocker Favor Anyanwu. Davis has stunned in her first season at SMU, winning national and conference weekly awards left and right. Her cross-court shot from the left pin is considered one of the most difficult shots to deal with in college volleyball today. 

Despite her accolades, Syracuse kept Davis locked down for most of the first two sets. The Orange set the tone early with an ace from sophomore libero Yuka Urano, then took an early lead before SMU came back to tie the set at 4 points apiece. The Mustangs then went on an 11-6 run before the media timeout, powered by Syracuse errors and Anyanwu taking advantage of well-placed sets. 

The Orange fought as hard as they could out of the timeout, but some Mustangs offensive trickery and Davis finding her swing for 3 kills late in the set closed it out, a 25-18 first set to SMU. 

Syracuse got out to a hot start in the second set, firing up the Women’s Building in hopes that the Orange might be able to take a set off of the Mustangs. A 6-2 start which saw the defense benefit off of errors and force others had the home crowd on its feet, cheering on their team. SMU brought it back, tying the set at 10 before the teams traded points through the middle portion of the set. 

SMU hopped out to a lead on the back of a long serving rally from redshirt freshman setter Hannah Beauford, but Syracuse once again clawed back, capitalizing on good hitting opportunities and locking down Davis to force errors and get points. Only up 1, the Mustangs took a time out to talk it over, and came out swinging to end the set, a 6-1 run to put SMU up 2-0 on the match. 

The Orange traded points once more with SMU at the start of the final set of the match, seeing nine ties in the first 20 points of the set, before the Mustangs found their rhythm. They ended off the match with a 15-6 run in the back half of the set, featuring more Davis cross-courts and blocking prowess on SMU’s side of the net. The final set ended 25-16 in favor of SMU, sealing its sweep victory over Syracuse. 

“We wanted to come out and show a lot of energy and effort in our performance today. I think overall, the team did a good job showcasing our performance at a much better level than in the last match,” Orange head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said after the match. 

He praised the team’s defensive effort, led by Urano, as well as hailed sophomore outside hitter Kiernan Stamey’s 12-kill night as her best in ACC play to this point. 

Stamey’s 12 kills led the team, as did Urano’s 11 digs. No other player reached double digits on either stat. 

Ganesharatnam also noted that seeing SMU as another team on the schedule helped in the preparation this week. 

“At the end of the day, they’re just humans too. They do the same thing we do, play in the same conference we’re playing in. We have to make sure we don’t put people on these pedestals and think they’re unreachable,” he said. 

Fifth-year middle blocker Abby Nicholson posted 5 kills and an ace on the day, and said she felt great after the match. 

“You saw us today, we really competed. We were right there with them. We just need to have positive energy, positive mindset, and we’re ready. We’re excited,” she said.

Syracuse is back in action against the No. 2 ranked Pittsburgh Panthers Sunday.