Volleyball Season Coming To A Close

Wednesday, November 26

Syracuse, NY

7 pm

Syracuse University

Virginia Tech

11/26/2014 2:12:00 PM | Volleyball

The Orange will host Virginia Tech and Virginia in its final two matches of 2014

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse will wrap up its 2014 campaign this week with a match against Virginia Tech on Wednesday and a match against Virginia on Friday in the Women's Building.

Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 7:00 PM – Virginia Tech (15-14, 8-8 ACC) | Live Stats
Virginia Tech enters the final week of the regular season on a four-game winning streak with victories against Virginia, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech. The Hokies swept the Demon Deacons and the Yellow Jackets last weekend.

Tech is a well-rounded team as it falls anywhere from sixth to 10^th in the conference in the major stat categories. LaTasha Samson has been tough to defend in her final collegiate season. She ranks fifth in the ACC with a .370 hitting percentage. Despite her efficiency, Lindsey Owens sees more sets her way and she's taken advantage of them. The sophomore is currently 10^th in the conference, averaging 3.31 kills per set.

Megan Beckwith has received a lot of attention in the back row for the Hokies as her 3.48 digs per set average seats her 10^th in the ACC.

Friday, Nov. 28 at 7:00 PM – Virginia (16-13, 9-7 ACC) | Live Stats
The Cavaliers is in the midst of trying to escape a rough patch in its schedule as they have lost four of their last five contests. Virginia's struggles follow a four-game winning streak in which it beat NC State, Notre Dame, Clemson and Louisville. Three of the four wins were decided in five-set grinds.

Virginia has a steady attack, ranking sixth in the ACC in hitting percentage, kills per set as well as assists per set. However, the Cavaliers have struggled defensively this season and have allowed their opponents to a conference worst, .246 hitting percentage.

Natalie Bausback has been Virginia's most consistent offensive threat, hitting .347 this season and ranking eighth in the ACC. The Cavalier setter has literally set her team up for success all season long. Lauren Fuller has been the motor for the Virginia offense, setting for a 10.62 assist per set average to rank her third in the conference.

Syracuse's serve receive will be tested by two of the best serves the ACC has to offer. Kayla Sears averages .33 aces per set and her teammate, Tori Janowski, averages .31 per set. The averages seat them sixth and 10^th in the conference respectively.

'Cuse Notes
Block Party
'Cuse is currently averaging 2.78 blocks per set, seating it 20th in the nation and fourth in the ACC. Its 286.5 total blocks is the 30th 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 320 total blocks. However, blocking has been a team effort for the Orange as hitters, Silvi Uattara, Stacey Smith and Valeriya Shaipova as well as setters, Gosia Wlaszczuk and Lucie Guttakovskaia combine for 218 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 29 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 7.34 assist per set average and 749 assists on the season.

The average is impressive because Wlaszczuk not only attacks more, but her 120 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 fifth most digs on the team with 183 and has the fifth most blocks with 50.

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 1.24 blocks per set. The average also ranks her 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 23 matches and missed three due to 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 28 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 22 matches while Sand has started in 15 matches including the last nine.

As a class, the freshmen make up 158 assists, (Guttakovskaia is responsible for 109 of them) 324 digs, (Sand owns 193) and 125 total blocks. (Levert is credited with 104 and Guttakovskaia's credited with 21)