Volleyball Looks to Bounce Back at Kansas Invitational

LAWRENCE, KS. – Syracuse volleyball (0-2) continues its road swing with three matches this weekend at the Kansas Invitational in Lawrence. The Orange will square off against Morehead State on Friday, Sept. 13 at 5 p.m., Arizona on Saturday night at 8 p.m., and then the host Jayhawks on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
Syracuse is looking for its first win of the 2019 campaign after opening with losses to #17 Baylor and #11 Marquette.

The Opponents
After losing their first match of the season, the Morehead State Eagles (5-1) are on a five-match winning streak, including a 3-0 record at the Eagle Challenge Tournament last weekend. Junior outside hitter Olivia Lohmeier was named the OVC Offensive Player of the Week after her MVP performance in the tournament. Lohmeier has collected a team-leading 98 kills in their six matches, while sophomore Mia Swearingen leads the Eagles with 26.0 blocks.

Arizona enters its third tournament of the season with a 4-2 record after going 2-1 last weekend in the SDSU/USD Invitational. The Wildcats started the season ranked 24^th in the AVCA Top 25 Preseason Poll. The strength of Arizona is its defense – four players on the roster have registered over 50 kills, while five have registered more than 10 digs.

After starting the season 3-0, Kansas looks to bounce back after dropping the UCF Challenge finale against the host team in straight sets. The 3-2 Jayhawks return half their starters while welcoming six new players to the fold. Junior setter Sara Nielsen has tallied 170 assists in the early-going, good for 9.44 assists per set.

'Cuse Leaders
Reigning ACC Freshman of the Year Polina Shemanova has been named a team captain for the Orange as a sophomore. In 2018, she was named an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, AVCA East Region Freshman of the Year, AVCA All-Region, All-ACC First Team and All-ACC Academic Team.

Shemanova leads the Orange in kills (21) and digs (16) in the early part of the season, while Elena Karakasi has registered 26 assists. The Orange scored 39.0 points in each of their first two matches and averaged 12.5 digs per set.

Top-Ranked Opponents
The Orange are one of 12 teams in the nation to play their first two matches against ranked opponents: #17 Baylor and #11 Marquette. Syracuse will also face #22 Louisville twice this season, #6 Pittsburgh and #25 Florida State.

Yelin Close to Milestone
Syracuse head coach Leonid Yelin is closing in on the 600 career-win mark, coming into his 28th season as an intercollegiate coach. Yelin has a career record of 588-259 and is in his eighth year as head coach of the Orange. He spent 15 seasons as head coach at Louisville before coming to Syracuse.

Up Next
Following the Kansas Invitational, Syracuse heads to Boston to take on Northeastern on Friday, Sept. 20, followed by Harvard on Saturday, Sept. 21, for its last two non-conference matchups. ACC play begins for the Orange on Friday, Sept. 27 when they face Georgia Tech on the road. Syracuse's home-opener is set for Friday, Oct. 4, when it hosts Wake Forest.

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Volleyball Looks to Bounce Back at Kansas Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Elena Karakasi

Polina Shemanova

Syracuse University Athletics