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On the first point in the fifth set of its opening match against Buffalo, SU’s outside hitter Polina Shemanova spiked the ball from the left side across the court toward Bulls’ libero Paige Beck. Beck couldn’t handle the shot, and two points later, Naomi Franco made the exact same play, this time from the opposite side.

Shemanova and Franco led Syracuse’s attack across two games on Friday against Buffalo (0-1) and UConn (1-1), respectively. Shemanova, named to the preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference team, led all players in kills in both games with 23 against the Bulls and 14 against the Huskies. Franco added 13 and nine in both games, respectively. Overall, the Orange recorded 69 kills against Buffalo and 47 against UConn.

Shemanova said she had to be “unique” and “creative” when designing her shots.

“I tried to be smart (and) hit line, hit across, hit some tips, have a variety of shots, so the defense isn’t expecting from you,” Shemanova said.

Syracuse (2-0) defeated the Bulls in five sets and swept the Huskies in three. Saturday, SU will conclude its opening weekend tournament against Albany (0-1). Middle blocker Marina Markova contributed heavily to the Orange attack, too, recording 14 kills in the first matchup and 13 in the second.

To set up the attack, SU had strong defensive performances, recording 61 digs against Buffalo and 49 against UConn. Shemanova led all players in digs in both matches.

“It was a mixture of our defense and our setters,” Franco said. “Defensively, we were just getting good balls up and great touches off the block and even just blocks in general. Our hitters were talking to our setter, letting them know what’s open.”

Shemanova, as well as Markova, have not played for the Orange since last fall because of visa issues, which caused them to miss the back-half of the all-ACC schedule in the spring. SU’s attack struggled in their absence and relied heavily on then-sophomore Viktoriia Lokhmanchuk and Franco.

Despite the strong offensive attack, the Orange committed several service errors in their matchup against the Bulls but improved in the second match. Head coach Leonid Yelin said he did see improvements in all areas among his team in comparison to last season.

“We all know it’s not like the way we would like to play, but that’s how it worked out”, Yelin said. “We’re not going to be perfect right off the bat. We have a lot of room to work to get better.”

Both Shemanova and Franco acknowledged immediate improvements from last season in today’s games. Franco reflected on last season and emphasized how she wants to improve this season.

“For me, I kept reminding myself of how I played last year,” Franco said. “I want to do so much better. I feel like I have so much more to offer that I didn’t get to present as a freshman.”

Franco said the presence of fans also was a factor in the service errors since she hasn’t played a collegiate game with fans in attendance. Friday’s games were the first with fans since a matchup against Clemson in November 2019.

Syracuse concludes its tournament Saturday against Albany in the Women’s Building, before traveling for three nonconference tournaments in the coming weeks.

Published on August 27, 2021 at 11:22 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini