There was no sugarcoating the in-your-face spike South Florida’s Andrea Rodriguez Gomez blasted at Lindsay McCabe.

Syracuse was barely leading late in the fourth set, and Rodriguez Lopez, the Bulls middle blocker, hardly jumped at the net before making McCabe pay for a late defensive slide. Behind the backdrop of loud USF cheers, McCabe wasn’t the only SU player cursing under her breath after the point.

But as her team regrouped before the next serve, Laura Homann wasn’t swearing. She was laughing. It was alright, she told her teammates. She rolled her eyes and smiled before breaking the huddle.

‘She keeps things in perspective,’ McCabe said. 

For a team whose roster features 50 percent first-year players, Homann, a junior, is a leader by age. Homann is also a setter, which means she’s a leader by position, too, SU assistant coach Kelly Morrisroe said. Experience or ability aside, Homann also leads Syracuse (11-6, 2-1 Big East) by easing pressure-packed situations. She talks her teammates through tough games, de-emphasizing opponents when they score and consoling teammates when they make mistakes.

‘She’s this team’s rock,’ middle blocker Samantha Hinz said. ‘Without her, we’d all be going crazy.’

The team leaned on that type of leadership early in the season. Homann, named co-captain by head coach Jing Pu, maintained a smile on the SU side — even when the Orange trailed Youngstown State by two sets early in the season. Before the start of the third set, Homann turned her back to the net, told her teammates to get ready for a comeback and clapped her hands in preparation.

SU won the next three sets and took the match in five.

‘That’s something I do naturally,’ Homann said. ‘I’m loud.’

Homann can lead quietly as well. The Orange lost those first two sets to Youngstown State by a total of four points due to hitting errors and a few service errors. During that time, Homann wasn’t joking with teammates when she told them to step up.

‘We weren’t getting outplayed.’ Homann said. ‘We were just beating ourselves. I had to say something.’

But in the third set, freshman Ying Shen entered the match for the first time and was given a simple pat on the back by a calm and collected Homann. It was exactly what the freshman needed in her first game, Morrisroe said.

Shen ended the match with eight kills and a pair of service aces in the last three sets of a comeback victory.

Morrisroe said Homann can easily relate to each of the team’s nine freshman, a valuable skill for SU.

‘Laura’s been there before,’ Morrisroe said. ‘She played every game as a freshman, and she’s still playing as a junior. She won her playing time by playing the way she has.’

Morrisroe, in her first year, wasn’t on the SU coaching staff to watch Homann’s ascent. What she sees now is the nearly finished product of two-plus years of hard work. Homann had 50 assists in a loss against Utah Valley. She hit the 50-assist mark twice two weekends ago against USF and Niagara.

Senior defensive specialist Ashley Williams said Homann backs up what she says on the court with how she plays.

‘She’s a very, very good setter,’ Williams said. ‘And she makes us play better.’

The team needed better play last weekend to stop a two-game losing streak. With outside hitter Erin Little inserted into the lineup and a new libero — Noemie Lefebvre — behind her, Homann helped secure two victories against Big East opponents.

Against St. John’s, Homann assisted kills by Little and Lefebvre to key a game-clinching 25-22 third set. Homann’s 37 assists the next day at Connecticut gave her 3,000 assists for her career, making her only the sixth SU player to do so. Both victories were 3-0 sweeps.

Homann’s ability to lead vocally and by example has helped SU one year after losing three key seniors. As this team tries to make up for its disappointing end in 2010 — missing the Big East tournament — her leadership will play a big role for the Orange.

‘Whenever things are quiet out there, she makes sure we hear her,’ Lefebvre said. ‘On the court, she’s vocal, and we need that.’

nctoney@syr.edu

Published on October 3, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Nick: nctoney@syr.edu | @nicktoneytweets