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Setter Elena Karakasi was forced to make a decision as the ball approached her at the start of the second set against Georgia Tech. Outside hitter Polina Shemanova was right in front of her, but Karakasi saw an opening in the defense and went for a kill instead of setting up her teammate.

But Karakasi hit the ball out of bounds. Syracuse associate head coach Derryk Williams locked eyes with Karakasi and motioned her to calm down. From then on, the senior from Greece settled in, tying her season-high in assists by the end of the night.

Karakasi recorded 48 assists while Syracuse (14-7, 3-6 Atlantic Coast) fell to No. 13 Georgia Tech (16-3, 7-2 ACC) 3-1. No other player had an assist in the Orange’s fifth straight loss. SU has now dropped 13 of its last 15 sets. Besides her assists, Karakasi put up four digs, two block assists and a service ace.

Karakasi opened up the game by spreading the ball around to her teammates. She fed outside hitter Marina Markova, middle blocker Abby Casiano and Shemanova each for a kill.

Then when it was her turn to serve, Karakasi served too short for an error but responded by setting up Shemanova for another kill on the next point. The Yellow Jackets tested Karakasi the next time she served, their bench yelling at Karaksi as she hit the ball. But she aced it.

At the end of the first set, Karakasi aimed her pass at Shemanova again as the Orange had a 24-23 lead. Shemanova shot the ball across the court, forcing it directly in front of the net on the right side. No Yellow Jackets players touched the ball in the last point of SU’s only set win.

But in the third set, Syracuse had the opportunity to get back in the game. After a dig from the Yellow Jackets, they set up a ball for a big spike from outside hitter Julia Bergmann on the right side. But Karakasi and Casiano combined for a huge block, sending a ring throughout the gym.

As the set wore on, Karakasi began to get creative with her assists. First, she set a lob to Markova who was standing directly next to her. The ball sailed in the air and Markova gently put it over the Yellow Jackets front line as they tried to close in for a block. A few plays later, Karakasi shifted over to her right after a Markova pass and tapped the ball behind her body to outside hitter Naomi Franco for a kill. She had another cross court set another kill by Shemanova, but Syracuse narrowly lost the third set 25-21.

The fourth set began with what seemed like another routine Georgia Tech kill until Karakasi dove to the floor for a dig that shot up into the air and landed in bounds. The Yellow Jackets thought the ball was going to land out of bounds and therefore, their defense was not ready. After that point, she kept feeding her teammates for nine more assists.

Although Karakasi normally gets the most assists on the team by far, she doesn’t usually get all of them. However, Syracuse head coach Leonid Yelin said it doesn’t matter if she’s the only one creating opportunities for her teammates. He said the statistics don’t matter, adding the importance of Karakasi’s decision-making to her success.

“It’s not about her assist numbers, it’s about how she makes decisions, what situation she makes what decision,” Yelin said. “Is it an emotional decision or was she thinking? That’s what it’s about.”

Published on October 22, 2021 at 11:34 pm

Contact Matthew: mahassan@syr.edu