Ying Shen may still be adjusting to the American way of life, but this past weekend at the Big Orange Tournament she seemed to be well-adjusted to life on the collegiate volleyball court.

‘I try my best to adjust,’ said Shen, a freshman outside hitter. ‘I do many things by myself, but [coach Jing Pu] helps me with some student life, some homesickness, but most of the things Iíve adjusted by myself.’

The Nanjing, China, native is one of nine freshmen making the quick adjustment to college volleyball for the Orange. Six of those first-year players helped Syracuse to a sweep of the Big Orange Tournament and a 3-0 start that includes a victory over Sacred Heart, an NCAA tournament team a year ago.

This weekend, SU travels to Utah for the Utah State tournament. The team will play three games in two days as part of the tournament, plus a fourth game on Monday at Utah Valley.

Shen undoubtedly headlined the freshman class, sparking the rally that brought the Orange back from a two-set deficit against Youngstown State with eight kills and two aces.

She even earned a spot on the all-tournament team along with senior outside hitter Noemie Lefebvre. Syracuse was the only team with multiple players on the all-tournament team.

In addition to Shen, SU saw major contributions from two other freshmen as well.

‘Andrea Fisher and Nicolette Serratore were huge,’ assistant coach Kelly Morrisroe said of the two outside hitters. ‘Just being able to, as freshmen, come in, play all around and make a really big impact.’

Fisher was second on the team in kills with 34 over the weekend, and Serratore chipped in with 13 digs.

With that comeback against Youngstown State, the Orange freshmen have already been through many of the ups and downs in one weekend that most go through later in the season. This experience puts the SU freshmen ahead of the typical learning curve.

‘It was a lesson to take away on that game,’ Lefebvre said. ‘We knew we could do a lot better, but we didnít sit on it even though we were down by two. I think it shows a lot of character to come back and win this game.’

This weekend could provide an even tougher challenge for the Orange as SU heads west for the Utah State Tournament. And while the freshmen may appear to be ahead of schedule now, they need to maintain this level of play to continue to be successful, especially since the team lost key senior leadership with the departure of Sarah Hayes, Mindy Stanislovaitis and Hayley Todd.

The team also has a 21-game nonconference winning streak it hopes to keep alive.

‘Weíre definitely going to have to show a better level of play and probably be even more consistent, as there are better teams than the one we faced this weekend,’ Lefebvre said.

Not only will Syracuse take on tournament host Utah State, who went to the NCAA tournament last year, but both Texas State and Idaho State simply boast larger teams than the Orange is used to playing against.

‘Weíve started looking at video on these teams and theyíre big out there,’ Morrisroe said. ‘Thereís going be a lot of size that we didnít see last weekend, so our girls really need to learn how to hit around a block and things like that.’

Shen and Fisher, the two freshmen hitters who contributed most to this weekendís 3-0 performance, both stand at 5 feet 11 inches tall.

Texas State boasts three hitters that are 6 feet 3 inches. This means the Orange might have to find other ways to score besides the outside.

‘Weíre really going to have to learn how to score more in the middle,’ Morrisroe said. ‘Weíve got to get our middles more involved, especially in the transition game.’

While itís a good start for this freshman class, this weekend will provide some new challenges.

Not only will Utah State and Texas Stateís size bring matchup issues SU didnít see last weekend, but the Orange freshmen will be going on the road for the first time in their careers.

‘Obviously, going to Utah weíre going to have a lot of things to deal with as far as time change and elevation and things like that,’ Morrisroe said. ‘But weíve got to go out there, and we know that we can contend.’

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Published on August 31, 2011 at 12:00 pm

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