SU’s offense falters in defeat to Miami

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During Syracuse’s 12-game win streak to start the season, its offense was humming. Though as the Orange entered conference play, they have been plagued with one major issue. Their offense isn’t clicking at the same rate.

Despite a talented roster and strong start to the season, SU’s attack has struggled to find its rhythm, resulting in low hitting percentages and a lack of efficient scoring.

The offensive struggles continued for Syracuse (12-7, 0-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) as it fell 3-0 to the University of Miami (12-6, 3-4 ACC). This is SU’s fifth time losing in three straight sets. Despite a perfect performance in the beginning of the season, the Orange have only won three sets during conference play.

All throughout ACC play, Syracuse’s offense has been a problem. In its first ACC match against North Carolina, SU recorded only 18 kills, compared to its 53 in the match prior against Cornell.

Additionally, SU recorded season lows in kills (17), points (24.0) and hitting percentage (-0.23) last week against Stanford. Comparatively, prior to entering ACC play, Syracuse consistently recorded at least 34 kills and 50 points per match.

Syracuse’s matchup against Miami was no different from its other conference games.

The team struggled through the first set, ending 25-15 in favor of Miami. SU recorded 28 attack attempts but only a 0.179 hitting percentage. The high volume of attempts mainly resulted in SU errors and easily defendable hits for Miami.

Miami registered only 25 attack attempts yet managed a 0.333 hitting percentage. The Hurricanes were much more efficient than SU, never giving up the lead and going on a 7-0 scoring run.

The Orange didn’t improve offensively from the first to the second set, only scoring 13 points. SU recorded only seven kills and a 0.000 hitting percentage on 35 total attacking attempts.

During the first two sets there was clearly a disconnect for Syracuse on its attacks. The Orange had 23 attack errors, compared to Miami’s 17. The Orange also had several touches out of bounds and a total of seven service errors by the end of the match.

Miami’s defense also put a dent in SU’s offense as the Hurricanes had 56 digs and 20 block assists.

The Orange came into the third set reenergized, but they came up three points short, falling 25-22. Despite its strong performance in the final set, SU followed the same offensive pattern: a low hitting percentage (-.019) paired with a high number of attack attempts (54).

SU is missing the execution. Players are heavily involved offensively but unable to convert the attempts into points. However, middle blocker Zharia Harris-Waddy feels differently.

“I feel like our attempts are pretty good,” Harris-Waddy said postgame. “I feel like we can keep going at the pace we’re going because we have really good attackers.”

Miami, however, scored efficiently enough to secure the win. At the end of the match, Miami had made 108 attack attempts while SU made only nine more attempts at 117. Yet, Miami recorded 36 kills to SU’s 27.

SU head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam attributed some of the offensive issues to slow transition work in the front row. He said it prevented the hitters from getting to balls from different angles.

Syracuse’s first two sets didn’t go as planned, and even though it lost the third, the Orange showed promise. Ganesharatnam noted that despite SU’s record, his team has and will continue to improve.

“Everything we’re doing right now, it’s to create improvement that eventually will show long term but also make an immediate impact right away,” Ganesharatnam said. “You know, we have a record of 12-7 now. A year ago, we would have given up the firstborn in our life to have 12 wins.”

Syracuse’s rough transition from nonconference to conference play has showcased the challenges of the ACC. Syracuse’s versatile offense carried it through nonconference play. If the Orange want to rediscover that form, they have to get back on track in that department.

“It’s the highest level you can compete, at least in the country,” Ganesharatnam said. “We’re doing the best we can with the team we have.”

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