Orange Downed By No. 4 Louisville

Friday, November 8

Syracuse, NY

6 p.m.

Syracuse University

13-12,1-12ACC

No. 4 Louisville

20-3,12-1ACC

Louisville

Syracuse

11/8/2024 9:15:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse University volleyball team (13-12, 1-12 ACC) hung tough with No. 4 Louisville (20-3, 12-1 ACC) on Friday night at the Women's Building but ultimately lost in straight sets.

The Orange were within striking distance in each of the first two sets before late Louisville runs allowed the Cardinals to secure both. The Cardinals entered the night ranked No. 4 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll and currently sit atop the RPI rankings.

"I thought we played some good volleyball against a top team," head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said. "I'm really happy about the performance and proud of the way the players executed. I'm very optimistic going into Sunday."

How It Happened
Louisville won the first three points of the match and built an early 6-3 advantage. Skylar George scored the next five points for the Orange by way of three kills and two aces, the second of which cut Louisville's lead to 10-8. The Cardinals responded with a 6-1 run, but 'Cuse came right back with three straight points of its own behind another George kill, a kill from Sydnie Waller and a Louisville attack error. A block moved the Cardinals ahead 21-14 before Syracuse went on a 3-0 run highlighted by an Anastasiia Nikolnikova kill and an ace by Ashlee Gnau. Louisville promptly answered with a run of their own to close the set, taking the final four points for a 25-17 victory.

A pair of Zharia Harris-Waddy kills helped the Orange go ahead 3-2 early in the second set. Louisville won the next three points to take the lead, but Harris-Waddy put down another kill on the next point to trim the deficit back to one. The Cardinals built a three-point lead from there but 'Cuse came back with a Nikolnikova kill and George ace to make the score 9-8. Like the first set, Louisville built a 21-14 advantage, but Syracuse again chipped away late, as an Ava Palm kill and a block by Veronica Sierzant and Harris-Waddy brought the Orange within four at 22-18. However, the Cardinals finished the set strong again, earning the final three points for a 25-18 win.

With the score knotted at 2-2 in the third set, Louisville won 10 of the next 13 points to establish a 12-5 lead. George and Palm delivered kills on the next two points to bring Syracuse back within five before Louisville stretched the lead to double-digits. The Orange saved three match points but lost the third set 25-15 to end the match.

Notes & Highlights

Skylar George and Ava Palm paced the Orange in both kills (8) and digs (9). George added a team-best three aces.
For the seventh time in the last eight matches, Zharia Harris-Waddy reached the five-kill threshold with six against the Cardinals. She also tallied a pair of blocks.
Anastasiia Nikolnikova had an efficient offensive performance, posting five kills on 14 swings for a .357 hitting percentage.
Veronica Sierzant led the Orange with 25 assists. It was her ninth time this season with 25+ assists in a match this season, three of which have come in conference play. She also had two blocks.
This was Syracuse's third match in ACC play this season against a team ranked in the top five of the AVCA top 25. The Orange previously lost to No. 1 Pittsburgh and No. 5 Stanford.

Up Next
Syracuse will face Notre Dame on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Women's Building. The match will be streamed on ACCNX.

For the latest news on the Syracuse volleyball program, follow /CuseVB on Facebook, @CuseVB on Instagram, and @CuseVB on X/Twitter.