Sarah Morton moved to her right, jumped high and blocked the Seton Hall attack. The Syracuse volleyball sophomore celebrated with her teammates on the court, just as she would have for any other block she had made during the season. But this block was more significant.

With one leap, Morton registered her 71st solo block of the season and set a new milestone. Morton’s block gave her a school record for solo blocks in a season, passing Jessica Paarlberg who had 70 in 1988.

Morton finished the regular season with 72 solo blocks after tallying five blocks in a 3-1 SU win Sunday against Seton Hall at the Women’s Building.

Morton actually did not know she had broken the record until after the game. After SU head coach Jing Pu received the traditional postgame Gatorade shower, graduate assistant Mary Ochmanek told Morton about what she had done. Throw in the win, and Morton was understandably excited.

‘It feels great,’ Morton said. ‘I just wanted to block the ball. It’s my job as blocker to get every block I can, and you just gear up to get your hands as much over the net as you can, and when you know you blocked that girl, it’s an awesome feeling.’

Morton tallied the record-breaker with SU leading 21-17, and then garnered the last point of the contest with a block to win the match.

Morton said she wasn’t even thinking about the record coming into the contest. With the match against Seton Hall being the team’s senior day and having enormous playoff implications, Morton had other things on her mind.

‘I didn’t know,’ Morton said. ‘The last block I had I just knew we won the game, and that’s all that mattered, and that was the most exciting thing to know we played awesome this weekend – we won our senior game, and we have a chance to go into big east.’

Some of her teammates, though, knew what was going on. Senior Cheryl Cobbina was keeping a mental track on the court of how many blocks Morton needed and was excited about her teammate’s accomplishment.

‘It’s huge because she was a good blocker last year and she’s gotten so much better hitting-wise,’ Cobbina said.

Both Cobbina and SU assistant coach Carol LaMarche talked about how becoming the all-time leader in solo blocks as a sophomore is an indication of Morton’s potential.

‘As a coach, you always want your players to do well, and you want them to reach their potential,’ LaMarche said. ‘But for some reason or another they sometimes don’t, and it’s good to see one of them actually does, and I still think she can even get better.’

LaMarche also talked about Morton’s athleticism, which she believes helped her toward becoming the record-holder. LaMarche said Morton is an outstanding athlete and described how she goes all out in practice and will play through the pain even when she’s injured.

‘All year we never worry about whether or not Sarah’s going to show up and play, and a coach loves that, when one of their players is that consistent,’ LaMarche said. ‘And to have that be a middle blocker is just even that much more because the middle is such a crucial position on a team.’

Breaking the record as a sophomore, though, leaves the door open for Morton to break her own record. With two years left, it’s a feat she hopes she can accomplish.

‘It is exciting to know that I set this record so far, and next year, I’m going to have to try and beat that,’ Morton said. ‘And then after that, I’m going to beat it my senior year. It’s just steps for me to try and be better.’

Published on November 11, 2007 at 12:00 pm