All it took was a video. One in which Sarah Hayes’ all-around volleyball abilities were so apparent — so evident — that the Syracuse volleyball coaches immediately knew they were interested. And they hadn’t even seen her in person.

‘You could just tell that she had a really good court awareness and was an all-around player,’ Orange assistant coach Carol LaMarche said. ‘I saw the quickness. I gave the video to Jing (Pu), and he saw the same things I did.’

But they both saw the 5-foot-9 Hayes playing defense for the Orange. A switch in positions was in order.

Hayes had always been an outside hitter in high school, a level at which her height didn’t inhibit her ability to play offense. But to play in the Big East, her height made the change to defense somewhat inevitable. Four years later, adjustments long out of the way, the senior captain has become a reliable leader for the Orange both on and off the court.

Hayes knew she wouldn’t be recruited to play offense at the Division I level. She was all but guaranteed a spot on defense. But the switch was no problem for Hayes. Instead the outside hitter turned defensive specialist has learned to love her position because, well, she doesn’t have much of a choice.

‘I love offense,’ Hayes said. ‘But I mean, (defense) is my position on this team, that’s my role. You sort of just have to love it.’

The hard hits to the floor Hayes takes every time she dives to make a dig never show up in the box score. Neither does her job of having to defend against the smashing hits opposing hitters — who can be five inches taller than her — sent in her direction. Defense is a thankless job, so for Hayes, it’s a good thing she’s able to love it.

But like her all-around volleyball abilities, her leadership abilities are just as strong and just as important. That’s why her teammates named her captain at the start of the year. Last season, her ability to become a vocal on-court leader of the Orange started to show itself, LaMarche said.

‘I guess that has to do with some of her confidence and her feeling that this is her team,’ LaMarche said. ‘It’s great because she’ll be the one to speak up in practice or in games and kind of get people going if it’s getting kind of sluggish.’

But there’s nothing sluggish about Hayes’ play on the court. Her quickness gives SU’s coaches the opportunity to have two players capable of playing libero — Hayes and junior Ashley Williams. It’s not a luxury every coach has, but Hayes’ quick reactions to opposing offenses allow Pu and LaMarche to have that choice.

Those quick reactions make it much more difficult for other teams to find the holes in Syracuse’s defense. If they hit in Hayes’s direction, there’s a good chance the Orange will be able to return it back over the net.

As Syracuse heads into the final stretch of its season, the final push to the playoffs, Hayes will be depended on to continue giving the Orange offensive opportunities. With SU on the bubble for a Big East tournament berth, this is the time that Hayes’ quick reactions are needed most. Syracuse will need every opportunity it can get if it wants to find itself with a spot in the conference playoffs, and it starts with the leader of its counterattack.

‘If something’s coming at her face, she can put her hands up and block it and actually have it be a ball that can be set,’ LaMarche said. ‘She has a quick reaction time.’

cjiseman@syr.edu

Published on November 1, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman