Kelly Duan is having quite a season.

The sophomore middle blocker and outside hitter continued her strong play by winning Most Valuable Player honors at the Big Orange Tournament this weekend at the Women’s Building, where the Orangewomen won all three of their matches to improve to 7-1. Syracuse downed Siena, 3-0, Binghamton, 3-1, and Colgate, 3-0.

Duan, who also performed well in last weekend’s Western New York Tournament, posted 27 kills and 24 digs in the three-match tournament.

Fellow Orangewomen Christen Casey, a senior libero, and sophomore outside hitter Kristen Conway joined Duan on the All-Tournament team. Casey had a team-leading 39 digs and Conway had 10 digs to go with 27 kills.

Co-captain Morgan Jones pitched in with 33 kills over the three matches.

‘Morgan was the major hitter in this tournament,’ head coach Jing Pu said. ‘I expect her to be more consistent once we get to higher-level competition.’

Sophomore setter and rightside hitter Aila Dommestrup had 93 assists for the tournament, including a Syracuse season-high 61 against Binghamton. The 61 assists were three short of the team record for a four-game match, set by Noreen Carroll in 1998.

Though dominant in the win column, the visitors challenged Syracuse. Binghamton took one game, 31-29. It was one of many close calls for the Orangewomen this weekend. Five of the 10 games Syracuse played were decided by four points or less.

‘I like the fact that we can battle back, but I rather the team not be in that position,’ assistant coach Alexis Dankulic said.

‘Our mental focus was very good,’ Pu said. ‘We were well-prepared for the tournament.’

Part of the team’s preparation was to spend more time together.

‘We have more team time than last year,’ Casey said. ‘Jing and Alexis are encouraging us to spend time together outside of practice.’

One of the key areas that the Orangewomen needed to improve on was teamwork. It seems that the additional time together has helped.

‘The passing has definitely picked up,’ Casey said.

Published on September 7, 2003 at 12:00 pm