Newcomers Lead the Way in Syracuse Volleyball’s Sweep of Niagara

Yesterday, I took my first step on the Syracuse Volleyball court.

Now, I’m not a player—I’m not going to be taking many steps between those white lines. But, last night, 10 players on the Syracuse volleyball court took their first steps on the orange court in a 3-0 win against Niagara.

“I thought this team did a really good job throughout the week from [last week’s exhibition loss to Buffalo] leading up to tonight’s match, learning from those mistakes, acknowledging those mistakes, but also building, and actively working towards improvement. You can’t do that if you don’t already have chemistry within the group, and if you don’t have a certain bond or trust within that group, so those are really good signs.”

Two of the 10 newcomers are freshman Marie Laurio and senior transfer Gabby McLaughlin. They both are feeling very acclimated to their new team despite playing only one game with their new squad.

“I learned how great our team works on the court together,” Laurio said. “We always pride ourselves on energy and lifting each other up. I think that’s obviously something that we’re still working towards because it was our first game out there, but I learned some great steps today in how we work on the court as Syracuse Volleyball. It was really great to be able to experience that with our team today.”

“It’s been really smooth,” McLaughlin said of her transition to Syracuse after transferring from Nevada. “Everyone was super easy to connect with, especially when I first got here. Everyone was super welcoming, which wasn’t surprising at all. I could tell right from when I got here that everyone was so nice and open to getting to know me and hanging out and stuff like that. It was really smooth.”

SU has no time to rest after tonight’s win, however. It’s right back in action tomorrow against Rider at 5:00 before playing Le Moyne on Sunday at 2:00.