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Despite recording seven times as many wins as last season, Syracuse has constantly struggled in Atlantic Coast Conference games on the road. SU’s only wins in ACC play came at home against Virginia Tech and Notre Dame.

After narrowly losing to Boston College on Wednesday in five sets, the Orange traveled to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, to take on the Eagles again. They vied for their first away ACC victory since October 2022.

However, Boston College (14-16, 7-11 ACC) defeated Syracuse (14-16, 2-16 ACC) in four sets. It is SU’s second loss to BC over the last five days. This marks the Orange’s 23rd straight ACC away loss, which started against then-No. 10 Georgia Tech on Oct. 23, 2022.

The Eagles opened up with a 7-4 lead after a kill from Cornelia Roach, who scored a personal-best 12 kills at a .579 hitting clip. An Ava Palm kill followed by a massive block from the CSU Bakersfield transfer tied the game 8-8. Palm led the way for the Orange in kills (16) and points (19).

SU and BC traded the following 11 points. After notching 18 kills against the Eagles on Wednesday, Skylar George scored one of her 13 kills to tie the game 12-12 despite great defensive play from Boston College.

A kill from Sam Hoppes and an attacking error by Palm put the Eagles in front 14-13. Julia Haggerty, who leads the NCAA in blocks and blocks per set, produced one of her 10 blocks to increase BC’s lead to 17-14. This prompted SU head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam to call timeout.

A kill from Halle Schroder gave the Eagles a 24-21 lead — needing just one more point to win the first set. Schroder had eight kills in the first set alone and 13 in the match. Following the Schroder kill, the Orange went on a 4-0 run.

A Palm kill and blocks from Pola Bujnarowska and Palm gave SU a 25-24 lead. After the ensuing Boston College timeout, an attacking error by Audrey Ross sealed the first-set victory for SU and its first first-set win since its five-set loss against Virginia in late October.

Kills from Sydney Moore helped the Orange take a 7-2 lead in the second set. An ace by Emma Ortiz along with a George kill, extended the lead to 9-2. But Boston College fought back.

A Roach kill cut the lead to 10-5, and a subsequent 3-0 run — which included a Ross kill, a bad set from Veronica Sierzant and an attacking error from Moore — put the Eagles within touching distance at 10-8.

However, a 4-0 run spearheaded by two Palm kills put Syracuse up 15-10. But the Eagles kept on coming. A 4-0 run of their own helped them push ahead 18-17.

A George kill swiftly put Syracuse in a tie-ball game, but it didn’t last long. A 7-0 run from the Eagles, which ended with a Roach kill, secured the second set for BC.

Again, the Orange jumped to a significant lead in the third set. A Palm kill opened up a five-point lead at 8-3. Yet, similar to the second set, BC found its way back into the set. Boston College scored six of the next seven points to tie the game at 9-9.

The Eagles didn’t take the outright lead until a Roach kill put them ahead 13-12. Yet, a kill and ace from George, along with Ross’ attacking error, gave the Orange the lead back at 15-13.

After a media timeout, a solo block from Anna Herrington and a joint block from Roach and Ross tied the game back at 15 apiece. Then, another kill from Roach put BC up 18-16. George responded with two kills of her own, tying the score at 18.

Syracuse and Boston College went back and forth for the rest of the set. A Schorder service error tied the game 22-22. Back-to-back kills from Herrington gave BC a set point. But Palm’s kill kept the Orange alive at 24-23.

A block from Sierzant and Anastasiia Nikolnikova originally put the two teams in sudden death. However, after review, the referees deemed Sierzant’s arm touched the net, and the call was overruled, with the point going to Boston College for a net violation.

In the fourth set, Boston College came out with guns blazing, starting with an 8-1 lead. Yet again, the Orange didn’t roll over when pushed. Kills from Palm, George, Nikolnikova, an ace from Ortiz and a block from Sierzant and Nikolnikova cut SU’s deficit to one.

Unlike Syracuse, BC held onto the lead for almost the entire set. A kill from Ross, who registered 21 kills on Wednesday and 11 kills on Sunday, put the Eagles ahead 13-10. Nikolnikova’s kill late in the set gave the Orange their only lead in the fourth set at 20-19, which didn’t last long.

Schroder’s ace, a joint block from Haggerty and Herrington and a solo block from Ross, opened up a three-point lead at 23-20. After Ganesharatnam’s timeout, George cut the lead to two with her 13th kill in the match. After Ross’ kill, Nikolnikova kept the Orange alive with a kill of her own to put the score at 24-22.

But, a double contact on the overpass from Sierzant sealed the win for Boston College and left Syracuse on its four-game losing skid.

Published on November 24, 2024 at 5:35 pm

Contact Quinn: qdpostma@syr.edu