Three losses in three games doesn’t typically lead to high spirits and happy coaches. But for a young team playing its first major competition of the season, Syracuse came away from the Millennium Hotel Invitational with high confidence and more vital game experience.

“Our players definitely understood the importance of what we were preaching the whole preseason about ball control,” head coach Leonid Yelin said.

This weekend’s Otto Invitational will offer the Orange (5-4) its last in-game opportunity to work on what Yelin calls the “little things” before Atlantic Coast Conference play begins next week. SU will take on Albany (2-7) at 5 p.m. in the Women’s Building on Saturday and Colgate (3-4) and Cornell (2-4) on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., respectively.

Yelin has his team focused in practice on the basic tenets of volleyball, working primarily on digging normal, easy balls.

“We have to get great pass, great transition. It’s much more valuable than just one crazy ball,” Yelin said.

He believes the team has been great at digging the “crazy balls,” referring to an opponent’s strike that is traveling faster and at a more difficult angle than usual, but is not as good with the simple balls that the team should be digging without any issues, specifically off the opponent’s serve.

“Our main thing that Coach has been stressing right now is our first touch, whether that be our serve or when we’re serve receiving,” middle blocker Lindsay McCabe said.

In practice Monday, whenever a player missed a dig, Yelin took the ball and slammed it back to the same spot until the player was able to come up with a pass to the setter. McCabe said the drill not only helps improve the team’s digging, but also increases confidence from the times it does make solid digs.

If the team is able to get the easy balls and make good passes, it can remain in its system, which Yelin said will lead to more points.

“When we get the ball to the setter, 90 percent of the time it’s a point because we can run what we were practicing, for hours, days, weeks,” he said.

Last weekend, tougher opponents last weekend exposed the Orange’s weaknesses and players are looking to this weekend to improve upon them.

“We do a lot of game-type drills (in practice),” McCabe said. “But every individual (needs to be) focusing on what we have to do.”

Yelin also said a lack of focus was to blame for the Orange’s easy ball struggles. With “crazy balls,” Yelin said, players just react and, sometimes, they get to it. Players put less of an emphasis on getting to them, so they aren’t as disappointed when they don’t, he said.

Setter Gosia Wlaszczuk said she likes playing lower-level teams early in the year because it builds confidence for the team and allows younger players to gain experience.

“Obviously we are trying to win every game but right now there is not as much tension,” Wlaszczuk said. “We’re slowly moving into the system of playing every weekend.”

Having played tougher competition, though, McCabe doesn’t think her team’s confidence has dropped. Instead, she is glad to have another low-key challenge before ACC play begins.

This last weekend, the Orange will take on three teams that McCabe believes should be easier to handle. Three more nonconference games, three more chances to make the easy balls easy.

Published on September 17, 2014 at 11:40 pm