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Syracuse won its third tournament of the season on Sept. 19 and added its 11th win of the season against South Alabama. Overall, the Orange are now 11-1 with their only loss coming against Iowa State in five sets.

The team’s success is due in part to several factors, including Polina Shemanova and Marina Markova’s play as well as growth from last season’s problems.

“I am very proud of this team,” head coach Leonid Yelin said after Sunday’s win. “They have been through a lot and continue to perform.”

The Orange’s start is comparable to the 2010-11 season when they won their first 17 games. While SU finished 23-9 overall that season, it struggled once conference play started, finishing with a 5-9 record in the Big East. 

Syracuse will begin a slate of 18 conference games in the Atlantic Coast Conference starting with Boston College on Wednesday, and it will look to replicate its early season success.

The most recent rankings show three ACC opponents — Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech and Louisville — all ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaches Top 25. Syracuse did not play a single ranked opponent during its nonconference slate.

Georgia Tech is ranked No. 18 overall in the country and, like Syracuse, has only lost one game. The Yellow Jackets impressed in a 3-1 win earlier in the season against then-No. 12 Penn State, and they are led by two outside hitters — Julia Bergmann and Bianca Bertolino — who have over 100 kills each. Syracuse plays Georgia Tech on Oct. 22 at home.

No. 5 Louisville and No. 4 Pittsburgh will likely both prove to be Syracuse’s toughest conference opponents of the season. Syracuse will travel to face Louisville on Oct. 10 and will play Pitt on the road on Nov. 5 and at home seven days later.

Louisville beat No. 7 Kentucky in five sets, and swept both No. 12 Nebraska and No. 7 Purdue. The Cardinals are well balanced, with five players each reaching over 60 total kills this season and seven players averaging over one dig per set.

The Cardinals currently rank 111th in the NCAA in aces per set and 63rd in kills per set. Their strongest area of play is their .309 hitting percentage, which is sixth-best in the country.

Pittsburgh has beaten four ranked opponents this season and relies heavily on its setters and team chemistry, and it is currently 21st in the country in assists. The Panthers’ style of play is a trending one that relies on faster players in the back compared to their front line, which will force the Orange to adjust.

“A lot of the ACC teams are starting to play that faster style,” middle blocker Abby Casiano said earlier in the season. 

Syracuse has statistically matched up well with the rest of the ACC. The Orange rank second in kills per set, fourth in assists per set and first in hitting percentage. 

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SU has two of the league’s top three players for kills per set in Markova and Shemanova. Elena Karakasi has the most assists in the ACC with 440, and she averages 10.23 assists per set.

Syracuse’s ACC success over the past nine seasons has been inconsistent during Yelin’s tenure as head coach. Yelin’s teams have posted a 75-74 conference record, which includes four conference winning seasons, five losing conference seasons and one .500 conference record last season.

Last season, Syracuse failed to win a single road conference game, and in six of their eight losses, the Orange failed to win a single set. But they were able to beat Pittsburgh in their first two games of the season, before Shemanova and Markova went back to Russia and didn’t return for the rest of the season. 

Syracuse went to the NCAA Tournament in 2018 and finished with their best conference record since joining the ACC. SU was able to compile 14 conference wins and beat one ranked team.

To get back to the tournament this season, Syracuse needs to post a strong conference record and secure an upset or two on the road. But Yelin said earlier this season that it won’t be an easy task given the competitive nature of the ACC. 

“Now [in the] ACC — from the top to bottom — you cannot beat any team if you’re not not going to play well,” Yelin said.

Published on September 21, 2021 at 10:34 pm

Contact Adam: amccaffe@syr.edu