VB SU 2 vs GT 3 10/21/14 8:30 @GT ESPN3 | Syracusefan.com

VB SU 2 vs GT 3 10/21/14 8:30 @GT ESPN3

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Volleyball | 10/23/2014 10:45:00 PM |
The Orange Heads Down To Georgia
Georgia Tech awaits Syracuse for a Friday night, 8:30 PM matchup featured on ESPN3

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - This weekend the Orange ventures down to Georgia to take on the Yellow Jackets at 8:30 PM Friday night in O'Keefe Gymnasium. SU seeks its second win of the ACC season and its second win in a row.

Sunday, Oct. 12 at 8:30 PM - Georgia Tech (9-12, 2-6 ACC) | Live Stats | Watch Live

Friday night, the Orange will head to one of the toughest places to play in the conference. A packed O'Keefe Gymnasium has been a deafening arena but hopefully ties to Georgia will help combat the crowd. Alyssa Anderson and Leah Levert are from the area while Stacey Smith achieved her undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia.

The Yellow Jackets are 9-12 this season while holding just a 2-6 record within the conference. Georgia Tech had a tough stretch to open up the conference slate with matches against Duke, Louisville, Florida State, Clemson, Miami and Pittsburgh all of which resulting in a loss. Tech's two wins were against North Carolina State and Wake Forest.

Despite falling in three straight sets to Pitt and Miami (two teams Syracuse was very competitive against) the Yellow Jackets took Louisville to five sets whereas the Orange dropped its match with the Cards in three. Syracuse struggled in its ACC opener against NC State, however, Tech was able to grind out a 3-1 victory earlier this month.

SU's sole ACC win of the season was a sweep against Wake Forest, who took Georgia Tech to five sets before eventually falling to the Yellow Jackets.

This week's matchup should be reminiscent of the last time these two ACC foes came together. In their match a year ago the contest went the distance with Georgia Tech getting the best of the Orange, 15-13 in the fifth set. The stats were pretty even, however 'Cuse commited less hitting errors (16-33), had a higher hitting percentage (.288-.160) and out-blocked (19-4) the Yellow Jackets.

SU Volleyball Notes

Homecoming
Alyssa Anderson, Leah Levert and Stacey Smith will have their own fan sections in the stands on Friday night as each of them have ties to Georgia.

Smith is a transfer from Georgia where she started all 32 matches in her final season as a Bulldog. She finished third on the team with 273 kills and hit .282 on the season.

Levert and Anderson played on the same club team together prior to high school graduation and coming to Syracuse. Anderson was drawn to Syracuse due to its academic prowess and Levert (a highly touted talent coming out of high school) was heavily recruited by Coach Yelin.


Block Party
SU's size and experience makes the Orange one of the best blocking teams in the country.

'Cuse is currently averaging 2.92 blocks per set, seating it 13th in the nation and third in the ACC.

Its 216 total blocks is tied for the 14th most recorded by any team in the NCAA and has Syracuse second in the conference.

With eight players six feet or taller and the team's setter at 5-11, SU has the size to get the job done.

Lindsay McCabe, Leah Levert and Monika Salkute are the Coach Yelin's go-to middle blockers as they make up 237 total blocks. Both rank amongst the Nation's best in blocks per set while McCabe also ranks 22nd in the country with 102 total blocks.

However, hitters, SIlvi Uattara, Stacey Smith and Valeriya Shaipova as well as setters, Gosia Wlaszczuk and Lucie Guttakovskaia combine for 165 total blocks.

McCabe's Siege On SU History
Lindsay McCabe is Syracuse University's all-time leader in block assists with 476 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 a second all-time for blocks per set. She's currently averaging 1.23 blocks per set and needs to average 1.35 to own Sarah Morton's record.

McCabe's 551 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. Her 75 solo blocks place her sixth on the all-time list.

Ms. 1,000
In less than three full seasons, Silvi Uattara has eclipsed the 1,000 career kill milestone.

Her eight-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 second all-time, averaging 3.61 kills per set and is not far from the crown owned by Jennifer Murphy who averaged 3.67 per set.

Uattara is also just 126 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 7.40 assist per set average and 540 assists on the season.

The average is impressive because Wlaszczuk not only attacks more, but her 87 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 135 and the fifth most blocks with 35.

New Kid On The Block
Entering SU as one of the top high school recruits according to PrepVolleyball.com, Leah Levert was expected to help SU 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 second in the country among freshmen with 1.33 blocks per set. The average has her 13th among underclassmen and 32nd in the nation overall and seventh 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 15 matches and missed three due to an injury.

Lucie Guttakovskaia has served as a reserve setter when needed, or has played along side Gosia Wlaszczuk to set her and give the team two setters on the floor. Guttakovskaia has played in all 20 matches for SU.

Belle Sand and Dana Crispi have split time at libero and defensive specialist. Crispi has appeared in 16 matches while Sand has seen action in 14 contests.

As a class, the freshmen make up 142 assists, (Guttakovskaia is responsible for 82 of them) 166 digs, (Sand owns 95 while Crispi has 46) and 87 total blocks. (Levert is credited with 73 and Guttakovskaia is credited with 14)
 
October 12? C'mon, SUA Oh Lord

My favorite was the other day when I saw a tweet for Ice Hockey and it was an article about Cross Country. They really need to a better job checking/editing what goes out.
 

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