Syracuse Volleyball Swept by No. 8 SMU for Ninth Straight Loss

By Ryan Croke | @ryancroke_ 

DALLAS — Syracuse volleyball (13-15, 5-13 Atlantic Coast Conference) was crushed by No. 8 SMU (23-5, 15-3 ACC) in its ninth consecutive loss.

SU was held to a negative hitting percentage for the second straight match. Entering the weekend, the Orange had not been held below zero at any point this year.

Set one followed a predictable script. After SU took its only lead of the frame at 2-1, SMU ran away with the set, taking it 25-15.

Set two was much different. The Orange landed the first punch, forcing a Mustangs timeout with an 11-4 lead. From that point on, the set was flipped on its head by SMU. The Mustangs closed the set on a 21-8 run and took a commanding 2-0 advantage.

Set three was back to the basics. After it was tied at 6-6, SMU led the rest of the way en route to 25-14 match-ending set win.

The defeat enters a laundry list of losses in which Syracuse has been outclassed by teams ranked in the AVCA poll. SU is 0-6 against ranked opponents and remains without a ranked win since Bakeer Ganesharatnam became head coach of the program in 2022.

However, the Orange have taken two sets against ranked opponents (then-No. 21 North Carolina and then-No. 15 Miami), the first set wins over ranked opponents of Ganeshratnam’s SU career.

SU enters its final week of the season with a pair of matches against two of the bottom three teams in the ACC. Syracuse heads to Clemson (16-14, 4-14 ACC) for a match on Tuesday at 2 p.m. and hosts Virginia Tech (11-18, 3-15 ACC) on Friday at 3 p.m. in its regular-season finale.

For coverage of that match and the remainder of the Syracuse volleyball season, follow @ryancroke_ and @CitrusTVSports on Twitter/X.