Volleyball swept by Buffalo in nonconference finale

In what was supposed to be a tune up game ahead of conference play against a beatable opponent, Syracuse volleyball (5-4) fell to the Buffalo Bulls, in a 3-0 sweep, its second and final match of the Syracuse Invitational Sunday afternoon. The contest marked UB’s first victory over SU since Sept. 15, 2012. The Orange have now lost nine of their last 10 home games dating back to last October.

​The teams traded points to open the first set, seeing multiple ties and lead changes happening in the early points of the set. With the score even at 19 apiece, Buffalo secured 6 of the next 7 points, fueled by a combination of Syracuse errors and an ace by Maddie Mitchell to take the opening set 25-20.

To begin the second set, Buffalo picked up right where it left off thanks to further Syracuse miscues. A 3-3 tie was the closest the Orange came to a lead in the second set, as the Bulls continued to rumble.

Syracuse notched eight total attack errors in the set to Buffalo’s three. The Orange failed to come within a point of the Bulls during the final moments of the set. Buffalo’s 16 kills secured the second set for the Bulls 25-20.

“It has to be a combination of blockers communicating and slowing down the attackers in order for our defenders to get some good touches so we can recover those balls. When you face a team that has two, three, possibly even four attackers who can finish the play for them then it has to be a team effort on our end to slow them down and recover those balls,” Orange head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said.

Now with its back against the wall, Syracuse got off to a good start in the third set when junior outside hitter Kiernan Stamey and sophomore right-side hitter Keila Gabriel logged back-to-back kills. However, Buffalo didn’t need long to reassert control. Led by freshman outside hitter Angelina Siepierski and freshman middle blocker Abisola Adebayo, among others, the Bulls put together their most dominant set of the afternoon. Embarking on multiple lengthy scoring runs, the Bulls exposed the Orange, eventually building up a 15-5 lead in the third set.

Although Syracuse kept pace with Buffalo in the kill department — trailing just 14-13 at the end of the set — their numerous attack errors once again doomed them. Syracuse logged seven of them in the third set alone. They finished the match with a total of 21 compared to Buffalo’s seven.

The Orange showed flashes of a potential comeback via multiple kills from Stamey and Williams, but it was too late to recover the deficit. Buffalo cruised to a 25-15 win, taking the set and the match.

Although Syracuse finished its nonconference slate just barely above .500 at 5-4, Ganesharatnam said he still saw a lot of good things from his team during the stretch. Specifically, he pointed out that Syracuse’s team blocking improved with each game. However, he also stated there’s still plenty of room for his new-look squad to improve going forward.

“We made sure we scheduled very different teams (during nonconference play) to put our team in different positions to compete against and see how they adjust to different styles and expose them to different situations,” Ganesharatnam said.

Syracuse’s focus now shifts to ACC play, a realm in which it struggled mightily last season. In 2025, the Orange finished third-to-last in the conference with a lowly 5-15 ACC record, closing out the campaign on an 11-game skid.

“Obviously, this is not the result we wanted. I know everybody that loves this institution wants us to succeed and wants better results, but we’re working tirelessly. The players are working very hard. Their attitude has been very good. We all want the same thing. We’re doing the very best we can to achieve those results,”  Ganesharatnam said.