The SU volleyball team posted an 11-9 ACC record in its first season to earn a share of fifth place
SU Finishes Fifth In First ACC Season
12/5/2013 3:16:00 PM | Volleyball
Final Match Notes | Season Statistics
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The 2013 Syracuse volleyball season came to a close last weekend as the Orange wrapped up a successful first campaign in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Featuring a young roster with just one senior along with four starters that were either freshmen or sophomores, the Orange, led by head coach Leonid Yelin, were picked to finish 12th in the preseason ACC poll. With confidence riding high and team chemistry boosting midway through the year, the squad reeled off 11 wins in its last 16 matches to end the year with a .500 record (16-16) while going 11-9 in conference-play for a share of fifth place.
SU sat at 4-5 early in the season after claiming the Syracuse Candlewood Suites Challenge. Losses in six of the next seven matches, which included setbacks to three top-25 teams and one receiving votes, dropped the Orange to 5-11 overall and 0-4 in the ACC. At that point, the strength of schedule, which saw the Orange play a total of five nationally-ranked teams, began to pay off.
Syracuse picked up the program's first ACC victory at Virginia to split the weekend in the club's first league road trip. The Orange went on to win four straight, the school's longest conference win streak since 2009,
and eight of the following 10 matches to even its record at 14-14 and improve to 9-7 in the ACC.
On Oct. 18, the second match of the four-game unbeaten stretch, Yelin became the 32nd active coach to reach the 500-win pleateau with a 3-1 win at Pittsburgh.
Despite falling in the next two games on the road, SU ended the year with back-to-back wins for the second straight season. The last of the victories, a triumph at Notre Dame, marked both the program's first win at Notre Dame and the first time SU defeated the Fighting Irish twice in a season.
Syracuse will look to take that momentum gained from the end of the year and translate that to a berth in the NCAA Tournament for 2014 with five starters back and the team's top six attackers.
Sophomore outside hitter Silvi Uattara garnered All-ACC First team honors, ranking sixth in the ACC with 3.60 kills per set while her 425 total kills was the 10th most in a single season at SU. In 24-of-31 matches this year Uattara reached double-figure kills, including a streak of 13 consecutive contests. She wound up second on the squad with eight double-doubles during the campaign - three of them coming in the last four outings.
The Orange also relied heavily on junior captain Nicolette Serratore as the other primary attacker. The outside hitter finished with career highs in nearly every category. She was second on the club with 3.08 kills and 2.48 digs per set while posting a team-best nine double-doubles to bring her career total to 14.
SU's blocking duo of redshirt junior Lindsay McCabe and sophomore Monika Salkute will make one of the best tandems in the conference next season.
McCabe moved into every career blocking top-10 category at Syracuse thanks to 159 total blocks and 138 block assists, good for eighth and second in a single season, respectively. Her 1.34 blocks per set ranked second in the ACC, 25th nationally and was the seventh highest in a season at SU. The co-captain will enter her redshirt senior year ranking fifth in total blocks (450), fourth in block assists (384) and ninth in solo blocks (66) at Syracuse. She also topped the team with a .309 hitting percentage.
With a strong end of the season, Salkute tallied a career-high 1.12 blocks per set. Over the course of the final eight matches, she averaged 1.51 blocks per set.
Two-time ACC Freshman of the Week Erica Handley passed her way into the record books and ranks 10th all-time in school history with 1,073 assists. Her 8.80 assists per set was the second most by a rookie in the league. She also led the team with 29 service aces on the year and registered her only double-double of the season in the home finale.
It's no coincidence that the Orange's winning ways started as junior defensive specialist Melina Violas began to heat up. Violas emerged as the club's top libero beginning with the match at Virginia. She ended the campaign with a team- and career-best 3.08 digs per set. However, in ACC-play, that figure rose to 3.31. Violas reached double-digit digs in 13 of the last 15 matches and led the team in that category in 13 of the final 17 contests.
With the pieces in place and an experienced roster returning next year, Syracuse will look to build off its momentum and compete for a conference crown and its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The 2013 Syracuse volleyball season came to a close last weekend as the Orange wrapped up a successful first campaign in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Featuring a young roster with just one senior along with four starters that were either freshmen or sophomores, the Orange, led by head coach Leonid Yelin, were picked to finish 12th in the preseason ACC poll. With confidence riding high and team chemistry boosting midway through the year, the squad reeled off 11 wins in its last 16 matches to end the year with a .500 record (16-16) while going 11-9 in conference-play for a share of fifth place.
SU sat at 4-5 early in the season after claiming the Syracuse Candlewood Suites Challenge. Losses in six of the next seven matches, which included setbacks to three top-25 teams and one receiving votes, dropped the Orange to 5-11 overall and 0-4 in the ACC. At that point, the strength of schedule, which saw the Orange play a total of five nationally-ranked teams, began to pay off.
Syracuse picked up the program's first ACC victory at Virginia to split the weekend in the club's first league road trip. The Orange went on to win four straight, the school's longest conference win streak since 2009,
and eight of the following 10 matches to even its record at 14-14 and improve to 9-7 in the ACC.
On Oct. 18, the second match of the four-game unbeaten stretch, Yelin became the 32nd active coach to reach the 500-win pleateau with a 3-1 win at Pittsburgh.
Despite falling in the next two games on the road, SU ended the year with back-to-back wins for the second straight season. The last of the victories, a triumph at Notre Dame, marked both the program's first win at Notre Dame and the first time SU defeated the Fighting Irish twice in a season.
Syracuse will look to take that momentum gained from the end of the year and translate that to a berth in the NCAA Tournament for 2014 with five starters back and the team's top six attackers.
Sophomore outside hitter Silvi Uattara garnered All-ACC First team honors, ranking sixth in the ACC with 3.60 kills per set while her 425 total kills was the 10th most in a single season at SU. In 24-of-31 matches this year Uattara reached double-figure kills, including a streak of 13 consecutive contests. She wound up second on the squad with eight double-doubles during the campaign - three of them coming in the last four outings.
The Orange also relied heavily on junior captain Nicolette Serratore as the other primary attacker. The outside hitter finished with career highs in nearly every category. She was second on the club with 3.08 kills and 2.48 digs per set while posting a team-best nine double-doubles to bring her career total to 14.
SU's blocking duo of redshirt junior Lindsay McCabe and sophomore Monika Salkute will make one of the best tandems in the conference next season.
McCabe moved into every career blocking top-10 category at Syracuse thanks to 159 total blocks and 138 block assists, good for eighth and second in a single season, respectively. Her 1.34 blocks per set ranked second in the ACC, 25th nationally and was the seventh highest in a season at SU. The co-captain will enter her redshirt senior year ranking fifth in total blocks (450), fourth in block assists (384) and ninth in solo blocks (66) at Syracuse. She also topped the team with a .309 hitting percentage.
With a strong end of the season, Salkute tallied a career-high 1.12 blocks per set. Over the course of the final eight matches, she averaged 1.51 blocks per set.
Two-time ACC Freshman of the Week Erica Handley passed her way into the record books and ranks 10th all-time in school history with 1,073 assists. Her 8.80 assists per set was the second most by a rookie in the league. She also led the team with 29 service aces on the year and registered her only double-double of the season in the home finale.
It's no coincidence that the Orange's winning ways started as junior defensive specialist Melina Violas began to heat up. Violas emerged as the club's top libero beginning with the match at Virginia. She ended the campaign with a team- and career-best 3.08 digs per set. However, in ACC-play, that figure rose to 3.31. Violas reached double-digit digs in 13 of the last 15 matches and led the team in that category in 13 of the final 17 contests.
With the pieces in place and an experienced roster returning next year, Syracuse will look to build off its momentum and compete for a conference crown and its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.
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