Volleyball Set to Compete in Kathy DeBoer Invitational

Saturday, September 2

East Lansing, Mich.

12 p.m.

Syracuse University

Delaware State

2023 Volleyball Huddle from UAlbany Invitational

Volleyball Set to Compete in Kathy DeBoer Invitational

9/1/2023 10:33:00 AM | Volleyball

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse University volleyball team is set to go on the road to Michigan State for the Kathy DeBoer Invitational at the Breslin Center on September 2. The Orange will play a trio of matches over the two-day event against Delaware State, Michigan State and Belmont. All three games will be streamed live on B1G+.

Taking on its second weekend bout of the season, 'Cuse looks to kick off the invitational against Delaware State at noon on Saturday. The Orange will play their second match of the day against host Michigan State at 7 p.m. and will conclude the weekend with an 11 a.m. match against Belmont, on Sunday, September 3. All three matches of the invitational will have live stats available and will be streamed on B1G+. Visit cuse.com to find links to the stream.

The match against Delaware State honors the Syracuse-MEAC Alliance, a 10-year partnership which began in the fall of 2021, scheduling agreement goal of up to 50 competitions between Syracuse and MEAC institutions over the course of the next decade. The goal of the Syracuse-MEAC Alliance is to connect institutions, student-athletes, staff and alumni between Syracuse University and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) across the Atlantic coastline that make up the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Additional elements of the Alliance include an internship exchange program, various seminars and professional conferences as well as visiting professorships/lectureships. To learn more about the Syracuse-MEAC Alliance, click here.

Syracuse will face Delaware State for the fourth time in program history on Saturday. The Orange are 3-0 all-time against the Hornets, winning their most recent meeting with a sweep on Aug. 30, 2014. Delaware State comes off a historic 2022 season for the volleyball program, winning the MEAC Championship for the first time since 1986.

Saturday night will be the fourth meeting between 'Cuse and the weekend host. Overall, the Orange are 1-2 in matches against Michigan State, having last met on Sept. 4, 2009. Syracuse looks to win their first matchup against the Spartans since Sept. 14, 1990. Michigan State finished the 2022 season with a record of 13-18 (4-16 Big Ten).

Sunday is the first time that Syracuse volleyball will face off against Belmont. Last year, the Bruins finished the season with a record of 8-23 (3-14 Missouri Valley). Belmont started off the 2023 season with a 1-3 record, winning against Youngstown State University.

At the UAlbany Invitational this past weekend, freshman Zharia Harris-Waddy was selected to the All-Tournament Team. She finished the weekend with 16 total kills on 29.4 percent hitting. Against a strong team in UCF, Zharia had five kills with a hitting percentage of .444.

Bakeer 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, adds five freshmen 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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