SU Volleyball wins back-to-back Salt City Classic titles

Syracuse Women’s Volleyball (3-0, ACC) defeated the Le Moyne Dolphins (0-3, NEC) in the finale of the Salt City Classic. The Orange cruised through the third day of the tournament with a 3-0 sweep and tested out a mix of players to build their identity. 

The seven returners from the 2024 season were joined by 10 new teammates heading into the matchup. 

Coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam says they had the tools to find a rhythm, “We have two or three lineups that we have in mind that we wanted to play around with to figure out what works best for us,” 

Syracuse had a different starting lineup for the third consecutive game to open the season. However, the frequent changes were no harm to the Orange. 

“Our goal coming off of the first two games was to get ourselves into a better rhythm early on and establish our hitters more, being more diverse with our offense,” Ganesharatnam said.

The Orange did exactly that. Four players recorded multiple kills. Gabriella McLaughlin and Soana Lea’ea led the way with four apiece. Most by way of a Tehya Maeva assist. 

“We were able to find a good connection with Tehya. It’s a testament to the passing today that we were able to execute a lot better,” Lea’ea said.

The connection continued the rest of the way, and Syracuse did not find the losing side the rest of the match. The second set was much tighter until the Orange started feeding McLaughlin on the outside. Kill after kill, McLaughlin extended the Syracuse lead to secure a 25-18 win. She finished the set with six more kills, hitting the double-digit mark in just two frames.

That late surge carried over into the third. A mix of outside hitters all did damage in a 25-8 rout for the sweep. 

Skylar George drew her first start of the season and became a focal point offensively, tying McLaughlin in total attacks. 

“We wanted to balance our attack attempts out a little bit, especially with Gabby having so many attempts compared to some of the other attackers. We were a little one dimensional against Rider, so we changed the tempo a bit,” Coach Ganesharatnam said. 

George recorded nine kills, just one shy of a double-double with her 10 digs. Lea’ea matched George for second-most kills, while McLaughlin once again led the way at 13 kills to partner her 10 digs.

Syracuse excelled defensively too, stunting Le Moyne’s offense and forcing a negative team hitting percentage in the match. 

The Orange once again opened the year strong, going 3-0 in the Salt City Classic for a second straight season. 

“Everybody’s goal on the team is we want to be undefeated in the preseason again. So obviously, this was a really important start,” Senior Piper Willinger said.

Syracuse has now won 15 straight non-conference matches heading into the UAlbany Invitational next weekend.

Yamada’s aces propel SU past Rider

Syracuse Volleyball kept its perfect start alive, earning a second straight win to open the season.

Following Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Rider, SU has a chance to sweep the Salt City Classic with a win Sunday against LeMoyne.

Despite back-to-back wins, head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said that some work has to be done before the next match.

“I think we got to clean things up, which is completely normal at this point of the season,” Ganesharatnam said. “Consistency is the key word here. We talk about it pretty much everyday at practice.”

Syracuse executed several aspects to perfection, particularly at the service line with aces. The Orange had 10 in comparison to five by the Broncs.

Junior libero Rana Yamada led the team with four aces, two of them coming in back-to-back serves. Along with making multiple saves on the defensive side, Yamada’s consistency helped the Orange win the second set 25-23 on a 6-1 comeback run.

The third set saw some serving errors by the Orange, as well as some miscommunication on defense, that helped Rider win 25-23.

Tied at 19 in the middle of the fourth set, SU called a timeout and returned to the court for a 6-2 run to seal the deal. The Orange sent the Broncs home with a 25-21 win in the final set, ending the match with a 3-1 score. 

“We talked after the third set, and we said we needed more energy,” redshirt sophomore outside hitter Skylar George said,. “We have to want it, and I was just ready on the bench. I just had to bring that, and I think it brought it out of people too.”

With Sunday’s match against Le Moyne a chance for Syracuse to defend its Salt City Classic title, Ganesharatnam said the reigning champs needs to avoid making simple mistakes.

“This team knows how to play,” he said. “We just have to execute a little cleaner.”

SU sweeps Niagara 3-0

Syracuse Volleyball opened its season with a statement, sweeping Niagara 3-0 on Friday for its first win.

The Orange controlled all three sets behind senior outside hitter Gabriella McLaughlin. She recorded 11 kills to surpass the 1,000 career kills milestone.

With a 1-0 record, SU carried its early momentum into the next match.