Emily Betteridge sees playing on the road as a disadvantage. The Syracuse setter and her teammates have struggled away from the Women’s Building, with their last win on the road in Big East play coming Oct. 30, 2011 against Pittsburgh.

“When you have your own crowd, you’re playing in the gym that you are used to practicing in,” Betteridge said. “The Women’s Building has a homey feel and it feels like it’s yours. You kind of own it and you’re more confident.

“Then you get to someone else’s gym and they might have crazy fans, they may have bright lights … just things that you’re not used to.”

The Orange (9-15, 1-8 Big East) goes on the road for two conference matchups this weekend, taking on Villanova (10-14, 4-5) in Radnor Township, Pa., on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Georgetown (7-15, 1-8) on Sunday at noon in Washington, D.C.

While Syracuse has little hope of competing in the Big East tournament, the Wildcats remain in the postseason picture. Villanova is tied for the eighth seed in the conference standings with St. John’s, making this weekend’s game against the Orange a must-win.

Syracuse’s roster is comprised of four freshmen and four sophomores, and setter Amanda Kullman believes a young team playing in an uncomfortable and unfamiliar environment contributes to the lack of success on the road against conference opponents.

“We’re a really young team,” Kullman said. “Walking into a gym with so many people is very different from home. We don’t have huge, huge crowds. Knowing it’s a different environment and a different atmosphere, there is always a different feeling when you walk into the gym.”

Kullman said last weekend’s games against Louisville and Cincinnati gave the team confidence heading into this weekend’s games.

Although Syracuse lost 3-0 to the Cardinals and the Bearcats, she thinks her team played competitively against two of the top teams in the conference.

“I think we have to come into these games playing like we did against Louisville and Cincinnati,” she said. “They were definitely two of our strongest games of the season. Since Georgetown and Villanova aren’t as good, hopefully we can use that to our advantage and play the same as we did last week.”

Head coach Leonid Yelin is more concerned about his team getting back on track after losing seven of its last eight games.

But at the end of a tough first season at the helm, the head coach is using the final stretch to continue to set the foundation for his program’s future.

“We are looking to build this team based on not winning one or two matches,” he said. “If I have to lose one or two matches or stop what we are doing for the future, I’d lose those matches.”

Published on October 27, 2012 at 10:26 am

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