Samantha Hinz smiled as she described the ‘black cloud.’ Normally, it’s nothing to smile or feel relieved about. Except for when it doesn’t exist. And for Syracuse, no cloud is lingering over this year’s volleyball team.

For Hinz and the Orange, times are good. Good enough for the best start in program history.

‘In volleyball, we have this term called the ‘black cloud.’ If you have one player who’s down, it’s like a black cloud, and it comes on to the entire team,’ Hinz said. ‘And I think we don’t have any of those players, and if they are there, we have enough people to get them back in.’

Coming into the season, having the ‘black cloud’ could’ve destroyed the season as the Orange relied so much on one singular player in 2009. Not making things any easier was the fact that that one player was Sarah Morton, the record-breaking middle blocker for Syracuse.

What could’ve happen didn’t happen, leading to the good times for Hinz and Syracuse. The offense has spread itself out, and every player who needed to step up did. None have fallen victim to the ‘black cloud.’

That’s all part of the plan for this year’s team. Not having just one player providing the offense or getting the kills. Instead, this year, everyone’s contributing — not letting anyone get swallowed up in the cloud.

‘I think everyone was just curious about how it was going to roll out,’ said Orange assistant coach Carol LaMarche. ‘We were confident that we were going to do well and fight for the Big East.’

Despite not having SU’s best middle blocker in program history, the Orange has had everyone make contributions at times. And the group knew it would have to play flawless volleyball if the squad were to repeat the Morton-led 18-5 start to last season. The core of the 2010 team —Noemie Lefebvre, Hayley Todd, Mindy Stanislovaitis, Lindsay McCabe and Hinz — has learned to play a different brand of volleyball.

But before that brand was proven, all the questions were there. Even for the team and the players themselves. The Orange was not sure how it was going to play Morton-less volleyball, never mind worry about the ‘black cloud’ as individuals.

Morton graduated in May. Without the dominant middle blocker who broke both school and national records, how could the Orange volleyball team possibly be successful?

For anyone associated with the team itself, that question was eventually answered easily. Sure, there would be some apprehension. And there was curiosity by the players themselves, as the Orange wondered how exactly the offense would look.

Rightfully so, since its go-to middle blocker was gone. The middle blocker who broke SU career records in solo blocks (196), block assists (458), total blocks (654) and blocks per set (1.35). Last season, Morton led the team with 379 kills and 3.16 per set.

But all the worrying was minimal as SU started out this season with a record-breaking 17 consecutive victories. It is hard to worry when the team is winning.

‘I think we’ve pleasantly come along and realized we’re better balanced on both the front row and back row,’ LaMarche said.

There is no longer one dominant force on the court for SU. When teams scout the Orange, they could no longer put most, or even all, of their focus on Morton. Instead, opponents have to look at the entire team.

Any player on the court, at any given time, could make a kill. It doesn’t matter if the player is in the front or the back row, a freshman or a senior. If opponents want to have any shot at blocking a Syracuse shot, they need to be paying attention to every player on Syracuse’s side of the net.

And that’s the new-look offense for the Orange. That’s the way it’s beating up on opponents, and that’s the way it has answered questions of whether or not this team can move on without Morton.

And that also explains the absence of the ‘black cloud.’ If someone’s down, it doesn’t affect the entire team. There are plenty of other people on the court who can get the kill, make the block or get the dig.

It’s all just a part of the new-look team. And this team is much more consistent. It isn’t winning and losing with one player.

‘Before, there was a very specific focus,’ Orange outside hitter Todd said. ‘And now, you don’t know who’s coming at you, and I think we’re a lot more consistent. We don’t have as many ups and downs as we did last year.’

This year, it’s been almost all ups. Not hard to do with five different players on the team with at least 100 kills heading into Sunday’s match against Villanova, led by junior Lefebvre (232). The Orange’s numbers against its opponents are almost staggering.

SU has 160 more kills than its opponents and is averaging four more per set. And when it comes to serving, the Orange has 42 more aces than its opponents. From Sept. 3 against North Texas to Sept. 18 against Kent State, it didn’t lose a single set.

But despite all of that, what has impressed the Orange coaches the most has been the team’s ability to not allow itself to get carried away with the success. For the players, the numbers don’t seem to mean a thing when it comes to its opponents. They treat every game just like cliché, every opponent as if it’s the best and toughest of the season.

‘They’re a team who really wants to be good, and they really want to do well. When they make errors, they know that they’ve made it, we don’t really have to say anything,’ LaMarche said. ‘They know what they’ve got to do. They’re self-motivated, and that’s the best situation you could ask for.’

Some of that motivation could come from wanting to have success on its own, with this group of players. When people ask about how the Orange has played as well as it has, they don’t want the name ‘Morton’ to be a part of the answer.

Still, trying to find a way to replace Morton isn’t easy. It’s required an entire team to have to try to absorb the loss, with every player contributing. But beyond Morton’s athletic ability and all-around dominance, her leadership was something the Orange depended on.

Not impossible to replace, only difficult. But luckily for Syracuse, there’s no shortage of veterans to take on that role. Todd has been a key component in that position, leading not so much by what she says, but more by how she plays and acts.

‘It’s hard to replace. Sarah Morton’s just a unique athlete and personality,’ LaMarche said. ‘But I think Hayley stepped up in her own way. She’s definitely a more quiet and reserved player, but no less of a threat to the other team.’

No player on the team has said losing Morton didn’t mean anything. But no one said it means this year’s Orange can’t have any success. And although Morton isn’t there anymore, Syracuse still plays the way she did.

‘I think one thing Sarah Morton did really well was getting the point every time, she didn’t get distracted very easily,’ Hinz said. ‘So I think that’s one thing that any player can take from her, focusing on every point, even when you’re down, even when you’re winning by a whole bunch, just wanting every point.’

With Morton now gone, Todd and other veterans have stepped up to become the new leaders. Now the upperclassmen, they’re left with the responsibility of having to serve as role models for the younger players.

Todd said improvement from the previous year is always a goal, and so is showing that the program is growing. With the way this year’s team has started its season, the Orange has already been able to accomplish both.

As soon as this season’s team took the court for the first time in competitive play, it did so carrying those questions of whether or not it can be successful. But not only did it answer them, it obliterated them. The Orange showed that anyone who had any doubts doesn’t truly know this team.

From the start of the season at the Colgate Tournament to its game at South Florida, the Orange set the best start in program history with 17 straight wins. And it also became the first team in school history to win every one of its season tournaments.

Last season, the Orange went 21-11 overall, 9-5 in the Big East, finishing fifth in the conference standings. There’s no denying the motivation to improve on that record is there. But there’s also motivation to show that Syracuse doesn’t need Morton to have success.

And as far as those questions that existed, they’ve pretty much been answered. This team is getting attention, and it doesn’t need Morton to get it. It’s proven it can do it on its own.

For the Orange, that’s all a part of this year’s goal.

‘I just want people on campus to know that we have a volleyball team,’ Hinz said.

cjiseman@syr.edu

Published on October 2, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman