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Syracuse women’s volleyball improved to 3-0 Saturday, after defeating Canisius in straight sets as the Orange wrapped up the Salt City Classic. SU had three players make the all-tournament team: outside hitter Skylar George and middle blocker Sydney Moore and outside hitter Ava Palm, who also won the tournament MVP.

The biggest contribution the Orange received against the Golden Griffins, though, was middle blocker Anastasiia Nikolnikova. Nikolnikova, a junior, played her first three matches for Syracuse over the weekend after transferring from Southern Idaho. Against Canisius, Nikolnikova recorded seven kills in only nine attempts. Additionally, she recorded four digs, seven blocks and 15.5 points.

Nikolnikova also recorded five aces on the night. The Orange have not been reliant on aces to score, as SU only totaled seven aces in the two games prior.

“You need to be confident and stay focused on what you’re doing. I was working hard on that in practices,” Nikolnikova said.

Syracuse got off to a shaky start in the third set, but Nikolnikova came up with multiple big blocks to help the Orange eventually prevail to finish off the match.

“I just locked in, I was staying focused, and I was like ‘I need to press right now,” Nikolnikova said.

Nikolnikova had seven of SU’s 18 blocks in the game. Head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam was especially appreciative of the junior’s big night.

“I thought [Nikolnikova] did a really good job today for us not just at the net but also at the serving line,” Ganesharatnam said. “She put a lot of pressure on the passes on the other side. She’s a really big presence on the blocking side.”

In their final game of the weekend, the Orange had two more players make their team debuts. In the second set, sophomore right side hitter Sydnie Waller came in to replace Sara Wasiakowska. Waller did not play at all her freshman year due to injury, and in her first collegiate match, she recorded three kills. Additionally, true freshman Ashlee Gnau made her debut early in the third set, recording two digs.

Through three games, Syracuse has played 15 out of its 18 available players. After only having eight players at times last season, the increased depth has allowed the Orange to already surpass their 2023 win total and get off to their best start since 2021.

Published on August 31, 2024 at 11:55 pm

Contact Aidan: aidan.tseng@gmail.com