Volleyball Defeats Cornell in Four Sets

Wednesday, September 6

Ithaca, N.Y.

7 p.m.

Syracuse University

1-6,0-0ACC

Cornell

1-3,0-0Ivy League

Syracuse

Cornell

9/6/2023 10:57:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – Syracuse defeated Cornell (1-3) on Wednesday night, 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 19-25, 25-21), to improve to 1-6 overall this season. The Orange were led by Cherlin Antonio who had 18 kills and Zharia Harris-Waddy who had six service aces. The win brought Syracuse to 34-9-1 all-time against Cornell.

"Congratulations to the team, they worked very hard the last few weeks," said coach Ganesharatnam. "It was just a matter of time until we achieved a victory, so I'm happy for them. I'm proud of everyone coming together as a team, sticking together and their hard work paying off. I'm glad we got the result we wanted."

Syracuse took a 10-5 lead early in the first set and the Big Red never recovered. With Syracuse ahead 21-14, Cornell used a 4-1 run to cut into the SU lead, but the Orange closed out the set with three-straight points to win by seven, 25-18. Cherlin Antonio paced the team with nine kills in the opening frame.

Tied 7-7 in the second frame, The Orange went on an 11-3 run capped by a service ace by Greta Schlichter. Syracuse went on to win the second set 25-19 and put the first win of the season within reach with a 2-0 lead in the match.

Cornell jumped out to a 5-0 start forcing 'Cuse head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam to call a timeout. The Big Red extended its lead to 10-0 but a second timeout by the Orange sparked a 5-1 run to cut into Cornell's lead, 11-5. Cornell extended its lead back to seven, 17-10, but the Orange pressed on to close it to four late in the frame. Cornell earned the set win, 25-19, to force a fourth set of the match with Syracuse ahead 2-1.

The Orange jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth set. Cornell closed it to one point, 8-7, but a 6-1 'Cuse run forced the Big Red into a timeout down 14-8. Syracuse led eight, 19-11, late in the frame when Cornell took a timeout to tend to an injured player. The Orange ran away with it to win the final set 25-21 to earn the first win of the season, 3-1.

Of Note:

Cherlin Antonio finished the match with a team-high 18 kills and a reception percentage of .909.
Zharia Harris-Waddy served up a career-high six aces in the match, along with eight kills on 13 attacks.
Mira Ledermueller paced the team with 36 assists and chipped in two block assists.
Melina Brooking contributed her first career block assist in the match to go along with a kill in one set of play.
With her service ace tonight, Alyssa Bert now has at least one ace in four consecutive matches.

Up Next:
The Orange have the weekend to rest before hitting the floor again on Tuesday, September 12 at Colgate at 7 p.m.

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