Syracuse Volleyball Earns Another Milestone in Loss to No. 21 North Carolina

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – After a milestone win over Duke (5-14, 2-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) on Friday, Syracuse volleyball (12-6, 4-4 ACC) was aiming for another one against No. 21 North Carolina (15-2, 8-0 ACC). 

The Orange came up short, losing 3-1 to the Tar Heels, but it wasn’t all negative: Syracuse head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam picked up his first set win against a ranked opponent with the Orange.

“We’re hungry,” Ganesharatnam said. “We’ll take the set however we want to beat a ranked team. That’s what we’re building this program for. That’s what we’re building this team for.”

“Again, it’s been a process. We’re in it. Every year we’re trying to get closer and closer. We got closer today than we were last time.” 

“We’re not going to give up,” Ganesharatnam continued. “We’re going to go after it again the next time we get that opportunity. Fortunately, in this conference we do get that opportunity, and we’re going to try to get another set, and another set. Hopefully next time it’s more than just one set and we can finally get the first win against a ranked opponent in my career at Syracuse.”

“I really don’t think we’re that far away,” Ganesharatnam said. “The fact that we competed with a ranked opponent and had a realistic chance of winning both [of the] first two sets shows that we’re not that far away. If we can win one set, we can win three, for sure.”

Syracuse has a short turnaround before it heads up north to face Boston College (14-6, 3-5 ACC) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

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