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Syracuse women’s volleyball (12-6, 0-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) fell to Cal (10-8, 2-4 ACC) in five sets in the first-ever ACC meeting between the programs. The Orange took a 2-0 set lead, but they crumbled over the final three to extend their losing streak to six games — all of which have come against conference foes. SU has not won an ACC game since Nov. 6, 2022.

The first set was back-and-forth and tightly contested until sophomore Zharia Harris-Waddy powered a 6-0 run, giving Syracuse a 20-13 advantage. Harris-Waddy had six kills and three blocks as she helped command the net in the first set. SU cruised for the rest of the set, winning 25-21 after a service error by the Golden Bears.

Sydnie Waller started the second set with an ace, complimenting her tremendous performance on the night. The Orange kept Cal at arms reach for most of the set. Syracuse doubled up the home team with a 14-7 score after a perfectly-placed ace from sophomore Skylar George. Five different players recorded kills for Syracuse in a dominant second set, which it won 25-16.

The Orange started the third set with a 6-0 lead, forcing an early timeout by Cal. After being down 9-2, the Golden Bears slowly clawed their way back into the match, aided by six attacking errors by Syracuse. SU didn’t have a single attacking error in the previous set.

An ace from Cal’s star Maggie Li cut the Golden Bear’s deficit to 18-16. Things were looking just fine for the Orange after leading 22-20, but a 5-1 run propelled Cal to a third-set win.

The fourth set was competitive throughout, as neither team took the lead by more than three points. Syracuse played good offense but recorded 10 attacking errors and three service errors, giving away 13 free points. Ava Palm on multiple instances was called for a violation for hitting the antenna during her attack.

Syracuse found itself down 19-16, but after a timeout and a 7-2 run, it took a 23-21 lead. Like the fourth set, however, Cal took over in crunch time and went on a 4-0 run to win the set. Two consecutive kills from Li took the match to the fifth set as Li and the Bears refused to quit.

Syracuse jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fifth set after two errors from Cal and a Palm kill. The Golden Bears worked their way back into the set after one of Kate Mansfield’s 10 kills tied the score 6-6. Mansfield was one of three Golden Bears with double-digit kills. The teams went back and forth until Syracuse seized a 12-9 advantage.

Palm’s 15th kill put Syracuse at match point, leading 14-11. However, Cal found its last-minute magic again and went on a 5-0 run to finish the set, winning 15-14 and the match 3-2. For Syracuse, the last set was once again plagued with errors, including six service errors, which helped the Golden Bears stay in the match and ultimately win. Five out of the last seven points Cal won were via Syracuse errors.

The bright spot for the Orange was the play of Waller, who missed her freshman year. She recorded a career-high 15 kills, two aces (tied team-high) and four blocks. Waller has seen increased playing time as ACC matches have begun after only playing in two of SU’s 12 non-conference games. She has since played every set of the five most recent matches for the Orange.

Sydney Moore also had a big game for the Orange. Moore only played in one set last weekend, but she has played in all eight this week. Moore totaled four kills without an error as well as nine blocks. Syracuse totaled 17 blocks to Cal’s 10.

Syracuse returns home next week to play Miami on Thursday and Florida State on Sunday.

Published on October 13, 2024 at 2:18 am

Contact Aidan: aidan.tseng@gmail.com