Volleyball Team Hosts Orange Invitational Tournament This Weekend
8/30/2001 12:16:16 PM | Women's Soccer, Volleyball
The Syracuse volleyball team opens the 2001 season hosting the Orange Invitational Tournament this Friday and Saturday at Manley Field House. The five-team field includes Syracuse, Albany, Kent State, Northeastern and Fairfield. The Orangewomen open the tournament against Albany on Fri., Aug. 31, at 3 p.m and then play Kent State in the evening match at 7 p.m. On Sat., Sept. 1, SU plays Northeastern at noon and Fairfield at 7 p.m. The Orangewomen are a combined 15-3 against Albany, Kent State and Northeastern and will meet Fairfield for the first time.
Head Coach Jing Pu returns for his seventh season at the helm of the Syracuse volleyball program. Last season, Pu posted his fourth 20-plus win season at Syracuse with a 24-10 record, the squad’s highest win total since 1997. The team’s 6-5 conference mark was also the best since the 1997 season. Since Pu arrived on campus, Syracuse has held the second-highest win total (133) among BIG EAST coaches. Pu enters the 2001 season with a career coaching record of 272-128, good for a .680 winning percentage. He ranks 32nd in winning percentage among active NCAA Division I volleyball coaches.
Syracuse was picked to finish seventh in the 2001 BIG EAST Volleyball preseason coaches poll. The Orangewomen finished fifth a year ago. Among SU’s six conference wins were two victories against regionally-ranked opponents - Connecticut and Rutgers. Notre Dame was selected to win its third consecutive BIG EAST championship.
Syracuse returns three starters from its 2000 team. The team is led by senior captains Noreen Carroll (La Grange, IL/Lyons Township) and Carol Munger (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy). During the 2000 season, Carroll broke the school’s career assists record in the final match with 3,842. The setter also posted the sixth-best single-season assists total at Syracuse with 1,102. Munger tallied 371 kills last season and was 10th in the BIG EAST in hitting percentage.
SU welcomes four freshmen to the squad. Rachel Crooks (Green Springs, OH/Clyde) was Sandusky Bay Conference and district player of the year as a high-school senior and will bolster the front-row defense at middle blocker. Morgan Jones (Malad, ID/Malad) played middle blocker and outside hitter at Malad High School and will help SU with her versatility. Ashley Kimes’ (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley North) high school team was ranked 15th in the nation by VBALL.com, and Laura Koster (Houston, TX/Westfield) will be seen in the starting lineup to fill the middle front spot.
