Vaida Sipaviciute confidently sifted through Team Adidas’ offense in Syracuse’s first exhibition game Friday night, blocking seven shots against a team of WNBA hopefuls. But the Lithuanian center was far from comfortable when she first came to the United States in 2003.

‘For the first week I would cry for hours,’ Sipaviciute said. ‘It was me not being as strong a player and the language barrier; it was horrible.’

Sipaviciute returns as the Orange’s primary offensive and defensive threat after scoring 16.3 points per game and leading the Big East with 2.3 blocks per game. The 6-foot-4 center set a Syracuse school record by scoring at least 20 points in seven consecutive games and recorded a single game record 41 points against Colgate.

New Orange head coach Quentin Hillsman brought Sipaviciute to the United States in her senior year of high school when he was coaching at the Patterson School in North Carolina. A basketball scout who evaluated European talent put Hillsman in touch with her parents and they arranged to send Sipaviciute to the school.

During the first week, Sipaviciute was away from her family in a country where she barely spoke the language and hard a hard time dealing with the adjustment. Her parents told her if she was really that unhappy she could simply come home, but Sipaviciute decided to give her new home a chance.

‘It was hard in the beginning couple of months, but I got used to it,’ Sipaviciute said. ‘At the same time I liked being away. I knew it was better for me.’

Adjusting to the United States was just as difficult on the court for Sipaviciute. She had played with the Lithuanian national team since she was 13 years old, so she was used to playing against a high level of competition, but not the American style of basketball. While Sipaviciute clearly had the size and talent of a Division I college player, Hillsman said she needed a lot of work when she first came to his school.

‘I guess the biggest thing in playing here and playing there is probably just adjusting to the speed of the game and how physical it is,’ Hillsman said. ‘International ball is kind of more of a finesse game.’

Sipaviciute knew how to speak some English when she came over from Lithuania, but she said it was much more difficult to understand when she actually came to the United States. While going to an American school helped her pick up the language quickly, she still struggled with communicating on the court.

‘The coach would tell me to dribble or pass and screen and I would be like, ‘What’s a screen?” she said.

Sophomore forward Sara Antolick said Sipaviciute, who garnered the most attention on media day, has settled into her leadership role already. Antolick said the co-captain is an energetic player that always tries to pump up the team, but her actions are louder than her words-or at least clearer.

‘She leads more by example,’ Antolick said. ‘If she says anything out there, sometimes it’s just in Lithuanian.’

Sipaviciute said she misses the little things from home, like her mother’s cooking and simply being around her family. Three years after she came to play for Hillsman, her parents have still never been to the United States, but her mother promised she would come for her graduation.

But the junior has grown to like many parts of American life. She loves shopping in American stores and finds the people to be friendlier here than they are back home. She even loves the Syracuse weather.

‘I’m from Lithuania so we have four seasons, basically the same as here,’ Sipaviciute said. ‘I can’t wait for snow. I love snow.’

The Lithuanian influence has not left Sipaviciute’s life, even as she becomes more acclimated to the United States. Antolick, her roommate, said her room is filled with Lithuanian items and she has taught her friends how to speak some words in her native language.

Antolick even wants to make her roommate a Lithuanian dish some day, but Sipaviciute has not given her a recipe to use yet.

Sipaviciute’s leadership extended to her European teammate Lina Lisnere when she came to SU last season. The sophomore, Lisnere, is from Latvia and sought Sipaviciute’s advice when she arrived on campus.

‘She helped me with lots of helpful tips and she told me how everything is done around here,’ Lisnere said. ‘Definitely, she was a big help when I got here.’

Lisnere said she and Sipaviciute are similar on and off the court because they have a lot in common. They share a love for shopping, and watch movies, ranging from love stories to action thrillers, whenever they have free time.

The two European players also bring their European backgrounds to the court. Lisnere said they have more athleticism than many post players from the United States.

‘Probably what we both have in common is we run the floor hard,’ Lisnere said. ‘We love running fast so probably that’s not what many post players do here. Every player on the court runs (in Europe), so I think that helps a lot playing here.’

In Hillsman’s first year as head coach for the Orange, he has said many times that his team will run a fast-paced offense. To do so, he will need athletic post players like Lisnere and Sipaviciute to run up and down the court all game.

The head coach said Sipaviciute is one of the most skilled post players in the Big East and expects her to flourish in his new system.

‘Vaida is an incredible athlete,’ Hillsman said. ‘She can run the floor. As a matter of fact, I think (the up-tempo offense) is really going to help her because she’s going to beat a lot of big players down the floor and get easy baskets.’

Published on November 5, 2006 at 12:00 pm