Unforced errors, injuries, headline SU’s offensive struggles
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Syracuse began its third set against Louisville on Sep. 22 with four straight attacking errors. Later in the set, Cherlin Antonio — SU’s kills leader — committed four attack errors in a row. They resulted in a season low eight points in the set. The Orange finished with 25 errors while losing in straight sets to the Cardinals.
In the following matchup against Notre Dame, offensive struggles continued to plague the Orange. Multiple times, they had two or more consecutive possessions with errors. They finished with 16 errors, recording nine points in the second set.
Syracuse’s (2-10, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) offensive struggles have hurt its chances through the first 12 games. SU ranks at the bottom of the ACC in points (446), kills (348), assists (324) and hitting percentage (.101). It also has 235 attack errors on the season.
“It is something we’re working on as a team, reducing our unforced errors,” Syracuse head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said. “Because if we can keep our unforced errors minimal, we’re always going to be in the game. Because that means the other areas are stable.”
Syracuse has registered double-digit errors in every single contest this year, finishing with more than 20 in six. In its only two wins, SU still tallied more errors than its opponent.
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With many injuries, Ganesharatnam has been forced to play people out of position. Ganesharatnam feels health has played a big part in SU’s miscues.
“If you have the same players playing out of positions, possibly from with injuries or coming out of injuries, to keep that mental stability throughout an entire match is a very difficult task,” Ganesharatnam said. “But I think overall, our players and our team is getting better with that.”
Greta Schlicter has been forced to play as an outside hitter, away from her regular libero position. Standing at 5-foot-6, Schlicter is undersized for the new role. She’s found some success, managing nine kills against Iowa.
Antonio has helped carry the offensive burden as the injuries mount. Against Louisville, there were stretches where the ball was constantly fed to Antonio. She ended the contest with 11 kills on 34 attempts — a third of SU’s total attempts.
During a two-game absence for Antonio, Ariana Joubert stepped up as a possible second option for Syracuse. Against Iowa and Morgan State, Joubert recorded 10 and 16 kills, respectively. The sophomore showed flashes, but in the following two games, Joubert didn’t record a kill.
Syracuse has struggled with its consistency. In the third set against Morgan State, Syracuse went on a 3-0 run off back-to-back spikes by Joubert and a service ace by Mira Ledermueller.
The run put them up 8-4, but the Bears followed with a 5-0 run fueled by three SU attack errors.
The Orange won that match, but lapses in concentration have been a common theme in 2023.
Syracuse still has 16 games left in the season. Once the Orange get healthy, Ganesharatnam
expects pressure to be alleviated off the current roster, stopping the mistakes.
