Orange Rally To Force Fifth Set, Lose Thriller On Senior Night

Wednesday, November 20

Syracuse, NY

6 p.m.

Syracuse University

14-15,2-15ACC

Boston College

13-16,6-11ACC

Boston College

Syracuse

2024 Volleyball Senior Night group photo

Orange Rally To Force Fifth Set, Lose Thriller On Senior Night

11/20/2024 11:26:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – A late surge in the fourth set by the Syracuse University volleyball team (14-15, 2-15 ACC) took Wednesday night's match into a deciding set, but the Orange could not get past Boston College (13-16, 6-11 ACC) in a marathon fifth frame on Senior Night at the Women's Building.

Graduate student Sydney Moore put down a career-best 11 blocks, with fellow graduate student Ava Palm registering her seventh double-double of the campaign (10 kills, 15 digs). Nikki Shimao rounded out Syracuse's strong Senior Night showings, with the graduate student recording a season-best 13 digs.

Head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam expressed his gratitude toward the program's class of six seniors and graduate students on their Senior Night.

"This class has done a tremendous job," Ganesharatnam said. "They've really helped bring leadership on the court and off the court and helped our younger players develop. They've done a really good job and we are really thankful they are here. We wish them nothing but the best in their future. They are going to do great in whatever they choose to do."

How It Happened
Syracuse won the first three points of the match behind a pair of Ava Palm kills and another by Sydney Moore. Boston College battled back and took its first lead of the set at 8-7 before Zharia Harris-Waddy knotted the score with a kill. The Eagles scored the next four points, a run that Syracuse immediately answered with four straight of its own to tie the set, 12-12. The Orange went back up by one with a pair of blocks before another 4-0 Eagles run put them ahead, 17-14. Just like earlier, Syracuse came right back with three straight, but Boston College again had the answer, going on a 5-0 run to take control late. They held on to win the frame, 25-20.

Boston College got out to a 9-6 lead in the second set before a Palm kill and two attack errors by the Eagles tied the score. After the Eagles won the next point, the Orange launched a 6-1 scoring stretch that included two kills by Moore and two by Skylar George to go up 15-11. 'Cuse extended its margin to seven later in the set with a 3-0 spurt that featured an Anastasiia Nikolnikova kill, a block by George and Moore and a Moore kill. Another kill by both Nikolnikova and George brought the Orange to set point, which they converted on a block by Palm and Moore to cap off a 25-20 victory.

The Eagles soared to a 7-2 lead early in the third and led by as many as eight at 12-4. George helped trim the deficit in a 5-1 Syracuse run where she delivered two kills and an ace. However, Boston College went back up eight at 17-9. A service error by the Eagles gave Syracuse a side out and began a 4-0 stretch that Palm capped with a kill. Syracuse could get no closer than four points, though, as the Eagles closed out a 25-16 win.

With the fourth set knotted at 5-5, a pair of George kills and a Boston College error propelled Syracuse to an 8-5 advantage. The Eagles came back shortly after with a 5-0 run to go ahead 11-9, but a Palm termination and a block by Harris-Waddy and Nikolnikova leveled the score again. Boston College won the next point, but Syracuse stormed back to retake a 15-12 advantage with a 4-0 run, which Palm closed with consecutive aces. In a back-and-forth frame, the Eagles responded with a 7-0 run of their own to move ahead 19-15. Syracuse immediately roared back, grabbing the lead again behind a 5-0 scoring stretch. Boston College went up 21-20 with two straight points before another Moore kill tied the score. Moore and Veronica Sierzant combined for a block on the next point and the Orange earned the next two points to move within one of the set. The Eagles saved one set point before George put down a kill on the next to seal a 25-22 win and extend the match to a fifth.

The teams split the first four points of the final frame before the Eagles won four in a row to go ahead 6-2. Nikolnikova ended the run with a kill and Syracuse won the next three points with two kills from George and a Boston College error to even the set at 6-6. The teams traded the next four points before the Eagles went back up two at 10-8. After a Boston College service error, Harris-Waddy put down a kill to make the score 10-10. The Eagles won four of the next five points to set up match points, but Syracuse continued to battle. Harris-Waddy saved the first with another kill, and George saved another with a kill of her own. A solo rejection by Moore saved a third and tied the score at 14-14, before another block by Moore and George gave the Orange a match point of its own. Boston College erased it with a kill and set up its fourth match point with another kill on the ensuing rally. George saved it with a kill, and after a Sierzant attack error on the following point, the Eagles failed to convert their fifth attempt with an error of their own. Tied 17-17, Boston College won the next point and then finally converted on its sixth match point to finish off a five-set victory.

Notes & Highlights

Sydney Moore tallied a career-best 11 blocks, becoming the second Syracuse player to reach double figures in blocks this season. Zharia Harris-Waddy also had 11 against Notre Dame on Nov. 10. The graduate student also had seven kills.
Graduate student Ava Palm turned in her seventh double-double this season with 10 kills and a team-best 15 digs. Palm has posted a double-double all seven times this season when she has reached double figures in digs. She also had six blocks and two aces on the night.
Nikki Shimao also had a strong performance on Senior Night, as the graduate student delivered a season-best 13 digs, which trailed only Palm for the most on the team.
Skylar George came one kill shy of her career high with 18 in just four sets of action. It was the most kills in ACC play for the redshirt freshman, who swung a career-high 49 times.
Veronica Sierzant racked up 46 assists, marking her third effort in conference play with 45+ helpers. The sophomore setter also had six digs and three blocks.
Harris-Waddy joined Moore in having a big night in the middle, as the sophomore finished with nine kills.
Anastasiia Nikolnikova finished the night with seven kills. Five Syracuse players combined for all of the team's 51 kills in the match. The junior also delivered five blocks.
Sophomore Greta Schlichter also reached double-digit digs with 11.
Making her first start since Oct. 4 against SMU, Emma Ortiz matched Palm with a team-best two aces. The freshman also had eight digs in three sets of action.
The Orange put down 17 blocks as a team, just two short of the season-high 19 they had on Nov. 10 against Notre Dame. Syracuse has reached double-digit blocks 12 times this season.
Syracuse led the Eagles in aces, 7-5.
With the loss, the Orange fell to 3-3 on the season in five-set affairs. Five of the six have come at the Women's Building.

Up Next
Syracuse and Boston College will meet again on Nov. 24 in Chestnut Hill. The contest is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. on ACCNX.

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