Leonid Yelin - Volleyball Coach - Syracuse University Athletics

Leonid Yelin

Title:
Head Volleyball Coach
Email:
Lyelin@syr.edu

During his 10-year tenure at Syracuse University, head coach Leonid Yelin posted a record of 144-144. He led the 2018 Orange to Syracuse’s first NCAA tournament berth. The Orange also achieved success in the classroom, posting a perfect Graduation Success Rate in each of Yelin’s 10 seasons. He came to Syracuse after 15 seasons at Louisville and playing and coaching in Uzbekistan. Yelin’s teams had a 624-292 record during his 30 years as an NCAA head coach.

Yelin’s coaching resume includes 17 NCAA Tournament invitations and five NCAA Regional semifinals overall. At Syracuse, he mentored three AVCA All-Americans and seven regional All-Americans, 11 All-Atlantic Coast Conference selections, and 16 ACC All-Academic honorees.

The Syracuse program reached new heights in 2018 when Yelin guided the Orange to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. The Orange earned an at-large bid to the postseason where they defeated Yale, 3-0, in the first round, before losing, 3-0, to eighth-seeded Penn State in the second round. 'Cuse finished the season with a 19-9 record, which included Yelin's 100th win at Syracuse, and a fourth-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Orange ranked second nationally in blocks per set with a 3.1 average that year.

Yelin has mentored many of the best players in Syracuse history, including Santita Ebangwese, the program's second AVCA All-American, and Polina Shemanova, the first Syracuse player to earn AVCA East Region Freshman of the Year honors. The duo was the first Syracuse tandem to earn AVCA All-America honors in the same season.

Ebangwese earned AVCA All-America, CoSIDA Academic All-America and ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors in 2018 as a senior. She led the nation and set a Syracuse single-season record with a .425 hitting percentage and set the SU career record for hitting percentage (.351). She closed her Orange career ranked in the top 10 in total blocks (567), block assists (484), solo blocks (83) and blocks per set (1.24). She was also Senior CLASS Finalist.

Shemanova earned 2018 ACC Freshman of the Year and All-ACC First Team honors after recording 447 kills, the most ever by a Syracuse freshman. She was a three-time All-ACC First Team honoree.

In 2019, Yelin earned his 600th victory as a head coach and the Orange recorded the 900th win in program history. Included in Yelin's 600 wins were 22 from the 2017 campaign when he directed the biggest one-year turnaround in Syracuse history. The Orange finished 22-14 in 2017, after posting a 7-23 record in 2016, and earned the program's first postseason appearance at the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) and advanced to the quarterfinals.

In 2013, Yelin led SU's transition to the Atlantic Coast Conference. In the team's first season in the ACC, Syracuse finished 16-16, including 11-9 in the ACC. Outside hitter SIlvi Uattara earned all-Region honorable mention honors. Yelin guided the 2012 Orange to a milestone in the program's first win against a nationally ranked team -- a 3-2 triumph versus No. 18 Iowa State.

Before his Syracuse tenure, Yelin built the Louisville program into a perennial national power. In 15 seasons, the Cardinals posted a record of 366-112, including 11 years with 20 or more wins, and two seasons with 30 or more victories. Yelin guided Louisville to 14 NCAA Tournaments, including four NCAA Regional semifinals from 1996 through 2010. In 2004, he earned AVCA All-Midwest Region Coach of the Year honors and was named Conference USA Coach of the Decade. Yelin mentored seven All-Americans, including six who played for their respective national teams, and 12 student-athletes who played professionally.

Yelin began his intercollegiate coaching career at Barry University in 1991. He led the Buccaneers to the 1995 Division II NCAA Championship and earned NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year honors. In 1994, Yelin guided Barry to its first NCAA tournament, where the Buccaneers advanced to the Elite Eight, and earned AVCA Division II South Region Coach of the Year.

Prior to joining the NCAA coaching ranks, Yelin was a successful player and coach in Uzbekistan. He played for the Republic of Uzbekistan men's team from 1970-75 and then started his coaching career as the head coach for the Uzbekistan junior (U-18) team. Yelin was named the head coach of the national Uzbekistan women's team in 1977, and led that team the 1977 and 1981 U-18 national championships, and the 1978 USSR Women's World Cup title. He was the head coach of the Ukraine women's professional team from 1983-87 and the 1988 and 1989 Uzbekistan men's national championship professional teams.

Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Yelin earned his equivalent of a master's diploma in physical education and sport training from the Uzbekistan Government Institute of Physical Culture and Sport. His wife, Yelena, was a member of the Republic of Uzbekistan's Women's National Team from 1973-86 and was a member of the USSR Olympic team from 1975-78, during which she was a two-time European Champion. The couple has two grown children, Eleonora and Boris.