Syracuse volleyball weathers the storm from FDU

Syracuse volleyball notched its first win in the Women’s Building since last October, defeating the Farleigh Dickinson Knights in four sets during the opening round of the Syracuse Invitational.

Coming off a shutout win over Canisius on Sunday, the Orange was focused Friday on breaking the eight-game home winless streak that dates back to Oct. 17, 2025.

The Syracuse got out to an early lead against FDU with junior outside hitters Kiernan Stamey and Emma Williams both notching five kills in the first set, which the Orange claimed 25-14.

The second set saw Syracuse go on an 8-0 scoring run behind Williams and Stamey, who racked up 27 attacks and three more kills than the rest of the team combined. 

Before the game, Syracuse head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said he was expecting a scrappy match, praising FDU’s ability to extend rallies.

That could not have been a more accurate assessment of the game, as the Knights pulled off countless great plays throughout the night to keep the ball in play. Those plays carried the team through the extremely close second and third sets of the match.

FDU had 14 digs in the first set, and the team’s strong defensive play continued into the second. Syracuse went on an 8-0 scoring run, but FDU responded with a run of its own and tied the set at 20. Both teams traded points down the stretch of what was the closest set of the night, featuring six lead changes and eight ties. 

Ganesharatnam called a timeout with the set at 25-24 in favor of the Knights, hoping to refocus, but Stamey could not corral an errant bounce off the next serve, and the Orange dropped the tight second set. FDU’s defensive plays and fewer mistakes proved pivotal, giving them a hard-fought win in the set.

The third set was as close as the second, deadlocked at 16 during the first timeout. Coming out of the break, Syracuse went on a 4-0 run, but FDU responded again and we went into another timeout tied at 24.

This time, The Orange fixed the small mistakes that lost them the second set and rallied behind stellar offensive plays by Sophomore right side hitter Keila Gabriel and Stamey, claiming the third set 26-24.

The fourth set saw the most complete Syracuse performance of the night. Stamey finished off a 20 kill night, accounting for more than half of the total offense for the Orange.

They claimed the fourth set and the victory 3-1, pulling off the first win in the Women’s Building in just under a year.

Syracuse got contributions from the entire lineup, with four different players reaching double-digit kill marks.

“The spread was pretty good today, and we had a lot of players hit a pretty high percentage,” said Ganesharatnam. “It’s our responsibility as a team to put our hitters in good positions, and we need to see that from the middle of our lineup.”

Ganesharatnam felt his ‘scrappy’ assessment of FDU was confirmed, especially in the second and third sets. 

“We did well in the first set, but FDU pushed back. At the end of the day, you don’t hit this high of a percentage as a team if you don’t overpower the block, and I think we did that well today.” Ganesharatnam said .

Syracuse faces Buffalo in the second leg of the invitational in the Women’s Building on Sunday, hoping to continue building momentum as the team gets into its ACC schedule.