ACC woes continue as the Orange fall 3-1 to Wake Forest

Syracuse volleyball fell 3-1 to Wake Forest Friday night at the Women’s Building. The match though, was closer than the score suggests The Demon Deacons’ advantage in size and physicality, coupled with a varied offensive attack, ultimately proved too much for the Orange.

Syracuse jumped out to a strong start in the first set, fueled by early kills from Skylar George and Gabby McLaughlin, holding off Wake to win 25-21. SU controlled much of the net play in the first despite six service errors – a promising sign after being overmatched at the net against Georgia Tech earlier in the week.

“Because of our size difference, we kind of have to reinvent ourselves constantly, right?” Head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said. “Thea, our setter, and all our hitters, especially the pin hitters, have done a good job in this match, moving around. We worked on this in the week, creating better looks for the outsides and putting more pressure on the opposing block, where they have to move laterally to set up. I think that worked really well today. It shows in the hitting percentage.”

McLaughlin led the way for the Orange with 21 kills, followed by George with 8, while Soana Lea’ea, Zharia Harris-Waddy, and Sydnie Waller also each contributed 8 kills. Wake Forest’s balanced attack featured Ryleigh Whitekettle with 17 kills, Sadie Poeck with 14, and Patrycja Lagida with 11. 

The second set was a tug-of-war. Wake tightened its block at crucial moments to win 25-19. While Syracuse kept the score close, more service errors in key spots and Wake’s physical presence at the net proved the difference. 

“This is a really crucial component of our game. We take a lot of risk with our serving,” Ganesharatnam said. “When you take a lot of risk, there are going to be errors. We’re not too concerned – we move on to the next point.”

The third set was the tightest. Syracuse pushed to 24-24 before Wake’s late blocks once again sealed a 26-24 win. In the fourth, SU closed an 18-13 deficit to 18-17 after a pivotal timeout, but Wake’s late offensive barrage closed the set and the match at 25-20.

Even though the Orange’s outside hitters stuffed the stat sheet with kills, Syracuse was far more efficient from the middle and right side. Right-side hitter Sydnie Waller credited her success to trusting her teammates and executing the team’s game plan. 

“One of our goals was to attack the center and deep corners. I just trusted my team with the calls and found success in my swing,” Waller said.

Despite the loss, Syracuse demonstrated resilience against a larger, more physical Wake Forest team. Yet, one number that really jumped off the stat sheet was the Orange’s 12 missed serves. 

On the team’s aggressive approach, Marie Laurio said, “It’s high risk, high reward. We’ve seen it work in games, so it’s something we’ll continue to go at because we know it works.”

The Orange look to build on the positive aspects of tonight’s performance in an effort to halt their losing streak from stretching to seven games when they host NC State at home on Sunday.