At Syracuse’s NCAA tournament selection show viewing party inside the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center, head coach Leigh Ross polled each of her players about where they thought they’d end up.

Georgia native Lisaira Daniels and Florida native Kelly Saco hoped to play close to home for SU’s regional round of the tournament. And after winning 40 games this season, both players thought their team earned the right to play on the East Coast and closer to Syracuse.

‘No one voted for Arizona,’ Saco said of Ross’ viewing party poll. ‘Nobody thought we’d have to head out West again.’

The selection committee gave Saco and her teammates a big surprise when it sent the Orange (40-14) to Tempe, Ariz. to begin its third straight NCAA tournament. SU will face Long Beach State (28-23) at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, then LIU Brooklyn and the tournament’s third-seeded team, Arizona State (46-7), in the double elimination regional round.

Ross said she couldn’t help but note how her team was ‘getting a fresh start.’ SU’s regular season started in Tempe when it played in the Kajikawa Classic tournament from Feb. 10 to Feb 12.

While players might not like the travel, Ross said they should like how SU’s ‘second season’ begins right where its first one did. And this time, SU is prepared for postseason play.

‘We won 40 games, we earned a spot in the tournament, and we’re going back to Arizona as a better team with more experience,’ said Ross.

Syracuse started earning that experience when it last played in Tempe at the Kajikawa Classic in mid-February. SU routed smaller schools like Cal State Northridge and McNeese State by scoring double-digit runs in mercy-rule victories.

The Orange couldn’t keep up with the tournament’s best teams, though. Pac-12 powerhouses Arizona and California handed the Orange its first two losses of the season.

That trend continued two weeks later. In Palm Springs, Calif. for the Cathedral Classic tournament, SU dropped three games. Two of those losses were to Arizona and UCLA, which are two dominant Pac-12 softball schools.

But after seeing three of the nation’s best teams early on, the Orange upset three ranked teams at its next tournament. Ross called it a turning point in SU’s young season. The Orange made adjustments, fixed what wasn’t working against its Pac-12 opponents and beat quality teams on a national stage.

Daniels said the non-conference tournament schedule helps SU’s confidence heading into postseason play.

‘In most of those games, we weren’t getting routed,’ said Daniels. ‘We stuck with them. So that gave us confidence heading in to the next tournament when we beat teams like Baylor and Michigan and it’ll give us confidence again heading out there again.’

That early season schedule also gave her team an unexpected advantage, Saco said. SU knew it wouldn’t be hosting an NCAA tournament game because of the small size of Skytop Softball Stadium.

Instead of playing weaker opponents that were closer to Syracuse, SU traveled more to play better teams. And in doing so, Saco said her teammates learned how to mentally prepare for tough games on the road.

‘If there’s one thing this team can do, it’s travel well,’ said Saco. ‘We’ve been to California. We’ve been to Florida three times. And we play a Big East schedule that has us going to Indiana and Illinois. I think we’ve learned how to play big on the road this season.’

SU is 12-3 on the road this season. Only the selection show’s tournament bracket should surprise Ross’ team when it returns to Tempe on Friday.

‘This team and this team’s schedule,’ Ross said, ‘were both built to play in this postseason.’

nctoney@syr.edu

Published on May 16, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Nick: nctoney@syr.edu | @nicktoneytweets