From Harrisonburg Va., to Kalamazoo, Mich., to Syracuse, early-season women’s volleyball centers on tournaments.

The SU volleyball team plays its third tournament in three weeks when it hosts the Syracuse Invitational at Manley Field House today and tomorrow. Syracuse (6-1) will face Brown (0-0), Colgate (1-5) and Buffalo (2-5), and with three wins would match the 9-1 start last accomplished in 1991.

Pre-conference volleyball tournaments generally provide teams with three games in two days against different opponents in a round-robin format. Syracuse coach Jing Pu believes the 2002 Orangewomen will gain important experience from the four tournaments they will play before the Big East schedule begins.

‘These pre-conference tournaments are extremely important to us this year, because half the team is freshmen,’ said Pu, ‘They need to play a lot to get a feeling of the college level of play.’

Sophomore Morgan Jones said that the tournaments provide opportunities for the team to test different lineups before beginning conference play. In the season-opening Big Orange Tournament, the Orangewomen started a different lineup in each match, and every player saw considerable time.

‘It gives Jing the opportunity to see how well we all work together,’ Jones said. ‘We can also get our team chemistry together.’

Jones enters the Syracuse Invitational after a career-high 14 kills in a win against Binghamton on Wednesday.

This weekend’s tournament features three regional opponents from three different conferences. Brown opens its season against the Orangewomen after sharing the regular season Ivy League championship in 2001. Colgate has struggled this season, not winning a game until their fifth match. The Raiders beat Niagara on Sunday for their first win.

Buffalo is also off to a slow start under first-year head coach Sally Kus. A member of the National Volleyball Hall of Fame, Kus coached Sweet Home High School in suburban Buffalo to a 794-29 record in 23 years as head volleyball coach. Volleyball Magazine called Sweet Home ‘the best prep program ever in the history of the sport.” Kus then coached at Daemen College, an NAIA school, before coming to Buffalo this season.

The Orangewomen are confident they will continue their early-season tournament success this weekend. With a 5-1 tournament record coming in, senior Abby Van Mater expects Syracuse to do well.

‘It’s another home tournament, and we won the last one (at home),’ Van Mater said. ‘We usually beat these teams.’

Pu believes his team should be ready for the competition this weekend. He said that the level of competition of regional teams is below what SU will face during the Big East schedule.

Playing at home, where the Orangewomen have nine consecutive winning seasons, Pu believes SU should continue its strong start. Midway through the season’s tournament schedule, Syracuse looks to gain valuable experience while picking up victories.

‘We are pretty confident, Pu said, “that we should win this tournament.”

Published on September 12, 2002 at 12:00 pm