‘Cuse Heads For Warmer Weather

Friday, November 21

Coral Gables, FL

7 pm

Syracuse University

Miami

11/21/2014 2:42:00 PM | Volleyball

The Orange will take on Miami and No. 8 Florida State in its final road trip of the season

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – On November 21 and November 23, Syracuse will compete in its final two road competitions of the season. Friday night, Syracuse will take on Miami and will wrap up its road trip with a match against No. 8 Florida State.

Friday, Nov. 21 at 7:00 PM – Miami (18-7, 11-3 ACC) | Live Stats
Syracuse will get another shot at the Hurricanes after a close contest the first time around when the Orange fell in four sets after taking the first. Miami escaped the Orange on a night Silvi Uattara was on her game, recording 21 kills and one of which being the 1,000^th of her career.

'Cuse's defense struggled just as every other team in the ACC has, as the Orange couldn't find an answer for Savannah Leaf. Leaf tallied 25 kills and hit .345 on the night and was in on four blocks as well. She ranks first in the ACC and 11^th in the country with 4.62 kills per set.

Miami is one of the best all-around teams in the conference as it ranks sixth or better in every major stat category. Its strength is its efficiency on offense. The 'Canes are hitting .261 this season, tying Florida State for the second best percentage in the conference.

Sunday, Nov. 23 at 1:00 PM – Florida State (24-2, 12-2 ACC) | Live Stats
Florida State is entering the weekend looking to get back on track as the other two ranked teams in the ACC knocked off the Seminoles this past weekend. Duke and North Carolina both defeated FSU in four sets, dropping Florida State to No. 8 in the country and snapping a 24-game winning streak.

The Seminoles rank in the top four of nearly every major stat category in the ACC except digs and service aces in which they rank 11^th and 12^th respectively. FSU's strengths are its hitting percentage and its blocking as it ranks second in the ACC in both categories, however, it also ranks third in kills per set and assists per set.

Nicole Walch leads the Seminole attack, averaging 3.93 kills per set but FSU's player to watch out for is Sarah Burrington. Burrington currently has the third best hitting percentage in the conference (.387) and ranks third in blocks (1.48 per set).

'Cuse Notes
Block Party
'Cuse is currently averaging 2.88 blocks per set, seating it 16th in the nation and fourth in the ACC. Its 279 total blocks is the 24th most recorded by any team in the NCAA and has Syracuse third in the conference.

Lindsay McCabe, Leah Levert and Monika Salkute are the Coach Yelin's go-to middle blockers as they make up 314 total blocks. McCabe and Levert rank amongst the nation's best in blocks per set while McCabe also ranks 35th in the country with 132 total blocks. However, hitters, SIlvi Uattara, Stacey Smith and Valeriya Shaipova as well as setters, Gosia Wlaszczukand Lucie Guttakovskaia combine for 210 total blocks.

McCabe's Siege On SU History
Lindsay McCabe is Syracuse University's all-time leader in block assists with 505 in her career. She took the throne against Boston College when she assisted on seven blocks.

Her consistency throughout her career at SU has her at second all-time for blocks per set. She's currently averaging 1.23 blocks per set.

McCabe's 582 total blocks in her career has her third all-time at SU and on pace to take second. The magic number you ask? Jessica Paarlberg is currently the runner up with 587. 77 solo blocks has McCabe sixth on the all-time list.

Killing Spree
In less than three full seasons, Silvi Uattara has eclipsed the 1,000 career kill milestone. Her eighth kill against Miami declared her a member of the 1,000-kill club. She finished the match with 21 kills and followed up the next match with another 21-kill performance.

1,000 kills qualifies her for SU's all-time kills per set list. She currently is third all-time, averaging 3.58 kills per set and is not far from the crown owned by Jennifer Murphy who averaged 3.67 per set.
Uattara is also just 52 kills away from entering the SU top 10 list for career kills.

Doing It All
With Syracuse fighting through injuries and dealing with losses due to transfers and graduation, Gosia Wlaszczuk has had to do it all for the Orange. Wlaszczuk was SU's starting hitter on the right side until Coach Yelin decided to make her the starting setter due to natural ability and a need for a setter.

The junior out of Poland embraced the new position and has excelled in all phases of the sport. She currently ranks 10th in the ACC with a 7.35 assist per set average and 706 assists on the season.

The average is impressive because Wlaszczuk not only attacks more, but her 110 kills this season is more than any other setter in the conference. Defenses have had difficulty reading her all season as they have no clue whether she will set the ball or sneakily dump the ball over for a kill before anyone can react to the play.

Wlaszczuk also has the fourth most digs on the team with 174 and has the fifth most blocks with 48.

New Kid On The Block
Entering 'Cuse as one of the top high school recruits according to PrepVolleyball.com, Leah Levert was expected to help Syracuse spelling Monika Salkute and Lindsay McCabe when necessary. Due to the loss of Nicolette Serratore in the preseason, Monika Salkute was the one to step up and fill in the role at outside hitter that Serratore left behind. With Salkute moving to the outside, Levert saw an opportunity to make an impact and stepped up in a big way.

The freshman has started all but one match she's played in and is currently third in the country among freshmen with 1.31 blocks per set. The average has her 15th among underclassmen and 30th in the nation overall and sixth in the ACC.

Baptism By Fire
Out of seven freshmen on this year's squad, six have seen playing time and four have seen significant time on the floor.

Levert has earned the role as a starter at middle blocker. The Georgia native has appeared in 21 matches and missed three due to an injury.

Lucie Guttakovskaia has served as a reserve setter when needed, or has played alongside Gosia Wlaszczuk to set her and give the team two setters on the floor. Guttakovskaia has played in all 26 matches for Syracuse.

Belle Sand and Dana Crispi have split time at libero and defensive specialist with Sand earning the starting libero job of late. Each have appeared in 20 matches while Sand has started in 13 matches including the last seven.

As a class, the freshmen make up 149 assists, (Guttakovskaia is responsible for 104 of them) 289 digs, (Sand owns 171) and 120 total blocks. (Levert is credited with 102 and Guttakovskaiais credited with 18)