Volleyball Clipped By California In Late-Night Thriller

Saturday, October 12

Berkeley, CA

10 p.m.

Syracuse University

12-6,0-6ACC

Cal

10-8,2-4ACC

Syracuse

California

Volleyball Clipped By California In Late-Night Thriller

10/13/2024 2:25:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

BERKELEY, Calif. – The Syracuse University volleyball team (12-6, 0-6 ACC) fell in a five-set thriller late on Saturday night against California (10-8, 2-4 ACC) at Haas Pavilion.

BOX SCORE (PDF)

Syracuse won the first two sets before the Golden Bears stormed back to complete a reverse sweep. The match was the second in a California back-to-back for the Orange against ACC opponents.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Syracuse lost the first three points of the opening set and trailed until Veronica Sierzant tied the score at 7-7 with an ace. A block by Sydney Moore and Sydnie Waller gave the Orange their first lead at 9-8 before California briefly retook the lead with back-to-back points. 'Cuse took the lead right back off a pair of Cal attack errors before the Orange went on a 6-0 run to build a seven-point lead. Zharia Harris-Waddy was the Syracuse server during the run, and the sophomore delivered an ace and a kill during the scoring spurt. Moore and Waller also both put down a kill as Syracuse led 20-13 at the conclusion of the run. A kill by Sara Wasiakowska set up an Orange set point at 24-19, and after the Golden Bears saved two, a service error gave 'Cuse a 25-21 win.

Syracuse never trailed in a dominant second-set effort. A string of kills from Harris-Waddy, Waller and Palm helped 'Cuse establish an 8-3 lead early in the set, and Waller put down three more kills shortly after to help stretch the lead to 12-5. Consecutive kills later in the set by Palm and Skylar George gave Syracuse a nine-point lead, its largest of the frame. Waller gave 'Cuse set points with her fifth kill of the set, and George secured a 25-16 Orange victory with a kill two points later.

The Orange raced out to a 6-0 lead in the third set behind a pair of kills from Palm and one each by Harris-Waddy and Wasiakowska. The Orange held a comfortable lead throughout much of the frame, and a Waller kill gave 'Cuse a five-point lead at 17-12. With their backs against the wall, the Golden Bears began to mount a comeback, winning eight of the next 11 points to even the score at 20-20. A service and an attack error from California put the Orange back up by two, but the Golden Bears responded by taking the next four points to go ahead 24-22. A George kill erased one of the set points, but California closed out an impressive 25-23 victory with a kill of its own on the next point.

The Golden Bears won the first three points of the third set before Syracuse answered with a 3-0 run capped by a George kill to knot the score at 3-3. Cal retook the lead and managed it until a 4-0 scoring run by 'Cuse that included kills by Waller and Wasiakowska pushed the Orange in front 12-10. After Syracuse went up by as many as three, the Golden Bears roared back and went ahead 19-16. A Nikolnikova ace tied the score at 20-20 and a Waller kill pushed Syracuse ahead 23-21. However, Cal won the final four points to win 25-23 and force a final set.

The Orange won four of the first five points in the fifth set behind a pair of Palm kills, but the Golden Bears came back and took a 7-6 lead. After a Cal attack error leveled the score, Moore and Waller put down a block to give 'Cuse an 8-7 lead at the change of ends. Syracuse won three of the next four points with kills from Waller, Moore and Palm to go ahead 11-8, and another Palm kill set up match points at 14-11. However, the Golden Bears closed the match strong, claiming the final five points to win 16-14 and seal the reverse sweep.

NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS

Ava Palm posted her third double-double of the season with 16 kills and 11 digs. It was her second double-double in ACC play, as she also registered one against Duke on Sept. 29.
It was a career night for Sydnie Waller, who tallied 16 kills on a career-high 40 swings. This was the sophomore's first career match with double-digit kills.
Veronica Sierzant set new career highs in assists (48) and digs (20), both of which led the team. This was the sophomore's first ever 40-assist performance.
Greta Schlichter eclipsed her previous career high in digs by one with 17 against the Golden Bears. Nikki Shimao reached double-digit digs for the first time in her Syracuse career and Sara Wasiakowska tied her career high with 10.
Syracuse's block had a dominant night with 17 total rejections. Sydney Moore tied her career high of nine to lead the Orange, with Wasiakowska (7) and Waller (4) also setting new career bests.
Zharia Harris-Waddy tallied six kills on 19 swings to go along with three blocks and four digs in her sixth start of the season.
Skylar George tied Sierzant for a team-best two aces. The Orange finished with eight for the match as a team.
Syracuse matched its season high with 57 kills as a team, its most in an ACC match since reaching 62 against North Carolina on Oct. 16, 2022.
'Cuse's 91 digs were the most for the team in a match since Oct. 31, 2021, when the Orange had 97 against Florida State.

UP NEXT
Syracuse returns home next weekend to face Miami and No. 21 Florida State at the Women's Building. The Orange will play the Hurricanes on Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. and the Seminoles on Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. Both contests will be streamed live on ACCNX.

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