Last season, Syracuse ranked 246th in the nation with a hitting percentage of .176. Lack of experience, Kendra Lukacs said, plagued the Orange throughout the year as SU finished 7-23.

“Unfortunately our passing was not good last year,” head coach Leonid Yelin said. “Our hitting was not good last year.”

While last season may have been one to forget for SU, players learned from it and adapted. This year, the Orange (13-6, 5-1 Atlantic Coast) boast a .238 hitting percentage, ranking 67th in the nation. SU is playing faster, smarter and have a better understanding for one another’s games. A large part of SU’s improvement come from its setters, who have anchored the success of Syracuse’s hitters.

“Our setters are much better (this year),” Yelin said. “They’re all growing up.”

In practice, the Orange simulate game-like situations. Once the ball is in play, it is up to the setter to determine which side of the net is receiving less attention from opposing blockers. Then, once they decide and the ball is set, the sole task of a hitter is to get the ball over the net while keeping it inbounds. The only way to get better at setting and hitting is repetition, Yelin said.

Syracuse has achieved a higher hitting percentage because setters are identifying how opposing defenses line up, placing the ball toward an area where there is one or zero blockers. On Oct. 6 against Clemson, Jalissa Trotter was the beneficiary of Dana Valelly’s awareness, as she spiked the ball by just one blocker, finishing off a straight-set win. Had two blockers been there, the 5-foot-7 Trotter may not have gotten the ball over the net.

“Our service team is 100 percent better than last year,” junior Santita Ebangwese said. “Jalissa (Trotter) has enough foresight to see wherever the blockers are going, to set up the opposite (side).”

Trotter, SU’s starting setter, is averaging 7.29 assists a set, up .71 from last season. When Trotter was injured earlier this season, junior Annie Bozzo impressed, recording 286 assists over an eight-game span. Valelly, the third-choice setter, has provided solid minutes and has averaged 1.73 assists per set.

“Without them, our hitters wouldn’t have high hitting percentages,” Yelin said.

The Orange’s hitters have benefitted greatly thanks to the improved play of Trotter, Bozzo and Valelly. SU’s two main hitters, Anastasiya Gorelina and Lukacs, have seen their hitting percentages increase, hitting .224 and .216, respectively

The biggest improvement of all Syracuse’s hitters has been Ebangwese. After posting a .286 hitting percentage last season, the junior middle blocker has elevated her game and now ranks 25th in the nation with a .396 hitting percentage.

SU’s setters and hitters have finally developed a chemistry that was absent last season, and it’s translating into wins for the Orange.

“We’ve grown a lot now that we’ve had that year under our belt” Lukacs said.

Published on October 9, 2017 at 10:40 pm

Contact David: ddschnei@syr.edu