Volleyball Opens Season Friday at UAlbany Tournament

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse University volleyball team is set to open its season at the Albany Capital Center for the UAlbany Tournament beginning on August 25. The Orange will play a trio of matches over the two-day tournament against Navy, UAlbany and UCF. All three games will be available to stream on AmericaEastTV.

First serve of the 2023 season, the second with Bakeer Ganesharatnam at the helm, is slated for 11 a.m. Friday against Navy. The Orange will play their second match of the day against host UAlbany at 7 p.m. and will conclude opening weekend with a noon match against UCF, on Saturday, Aug. 26.

The match against UAlbany will be streamed live on AmericaEast.TV, while the matches against Navy and UCF will have recordings available on AmericaEast.TV to view after the conclusion of the matches. All matches will have live stats available.

Syracuse will face Navy for the third time in program history on Friday morning. The Orange are 2-0 all-time against the Naval Academy, most recently earning a 3-1 win on Sept. 20, 2015. Navy was picked to finish third in the Patriot League according to the league's Preseason Coaches Poll and had three athletes named to the Patriot League Preseason All-League Team.

Friday night is the 13^th meeting in program history between 'Cuse and the Great Danes. Overall, the Orange are 9-3 in matches against UAlbany having last met on Aug. 28, 2021. Syracuse has won each of the last four meetings while the Great Danes look to beat their upstate New York foes for the first time since 2006. UAlbany begins it season at home for the first time in 20 years. Last season, the Danes finished the season with a 7-20 record.

It's the second season in a row in which the Orange face UCF during the opening weekend. Last year, the Golden Knights earned a 3-0 win over 'Cuse at the UCF Challenge on Sept. 2. Central Florida went on to win the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Co-Championship and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Knights begin the 2023 campaign receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll.

Ganesharatnam begins his second season with the program, and is joined by a new coaching staff of familiar faces and nine newcomers to the court. Associate Head Coach, Akiko Hatakeyama, coached with Ganesharatnam during his tenure at Temple. She begins her first season at Syracuse, bringing with her collegiate and professional coaching and playing experience. Also joining Ganesharatnam's staff is Gabriella Matautia who played for Ganesharatnam at Temple and former Syracuse standout Polina Shemanova, who will spend the 2023 season as a graduate assistant coach and the program's director of operations.

The team returns four players from last season, add five freshman and a handful of transfers from across the country. Last season, 'Cuse posted an 11-17 record and went 7-11 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

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Syracuse University Athletics

Volleyball Opens Season Friday at UAlbany Tournament

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