SU Volleyball Players Step Up with New Roles

By: Jessica Eley

Head Volleybal Coach Leonid Yelin © 2014 cuse.com

With the start of the season this Saturday, Syracuse University's head volleyball coach, Leonid Yelin says he is excited to see what his team is capable of this year.

The Orange returns seven players after going 16-16 during the 2013 season. Among the returning players is a 2013 All-ACC selection Silvi Uattara. Yelin said that the rest of the coaching staff and team hope to end the season higher than last year's finish. The Orange women finished in the middle of the pack at 8th place with a conference record of 11-9.

This year, 5'11 junior, Gosia Wlaszczuk, will take control of the offense from her new position as setter. Wlaszczuk made  the transition from outside hitter where the job is to score points by attacking the ball from the left side of the net, to setter where she will have to set the ball for other players to attack. She takes over the role of setter after last year's starting setter, Erica Handley, transferred at the end of the 2013 season.

"We slowly moved her to the setter position based off of her natural talent," Yelin said. "I think Gosia is going to surprise a lot of people because nobody in the nation knows that she's going to be our setter."

Yelin said he can see the improvements the hitters have made to become more aggressive player. They have become stronger at the net with their blocking and hitting. "We have almost everyone back, so it's more mature, more physical," Yelin said.

Junior middle blocker, 6'3 Monica Salkute, will play a bigger role on the team this year. Instead of rotating out for the libero, she will also play in the back row, where she will hit. Coach Yelin said that he hopes to utilize her offensively with her ball attacking skills. Last year Salkute finished second on the team with a .245 hitting percentage.

As the libero she'll wear the contrasting jersey that means she can replace any back row player without a substitution counting against the team. Liberos normally sub in for middle blockers when they rotate into the back row.

Yelin said with SU's sped up offense, ball control will be crucial. He says consistency from all six players on the court will be the key to this year's success.

"For the first tournament, I definitely want to see if we're capable, and how to bring what we were working on during preseason in the game situation," Yelin said. "It's a little bit different when it's practicing and scrimmaging compared to an actual game."

The Orange women open their season this Saturday at 11 a.m. against Delaware State at the Big Orange Tournament in the Women's Building. Temple University's and Niagara University's volleyball teams will also compete at the tournament this weekend.