Syracuse Volleyball did something it hadn’t done in nearly a year on Friday: win a game inside the SU Women’s Building.
The Orange defeated Fairleigh Dickinson three sets to one in the first game of the Syracuse Invitational.
SU’s victory came behind a stellar offensive night, with four players racking up 10 or more kills for Syracuse.
It was the first home victory for Syracuse since last year’s win over Duke on Oct. 17.
Outside hitter Kiernan Stamey paced the Orange, with a season-high 19 kills on 43 attempts.
“There’s a reason we recruited Kiernan,” said Syracuse head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam. “She has tremendous potential and she wants to be great.”
Syracuse and FDU split the first two sets, with the Orange holding the Knights to a negative hitting percentage in a 25-14 set one win.
The Knights rallied in the second set to stun ‘Cuse 26-24, evening the score.
A back-and-forth third set saw Syracuse return the favor to FDU with a 26-24 victory, followed by the Orange closing out the match in dominant fashion, taking the fourth set 25-15.
Abby Nicholson, who had 12 kills, said it was the play of the freshman setter, Charis Burge, that allowed the Syracuse offense to hit .295 in the match.
“She shows a great deal of leadership from a freshman, I think we all look to her on the court,” Nicholson said.
Burge ended the match with a 49-assist double-double, which marked her highest assist output since she had 50 against Cornell earlier this month.
Ganesharatnam said the buy-in from the players allowed them to weather the storm from FDU in the middle sets.
“We have to focus on what we do well,” Ganesharatnam said. “We have to really trust the work we put in to get to this point.”
Syracuse will wrap up the Syracuse Invitational as well as non-conference play, hosting Buffalo at 1 p.m. on Sept. 20.