After grueling two days, Syracuse sits at 1-5.

The Orange dropped three of four games this weekend in its first home matches of the season.

Playing four games in two days is tough for a team, let alone an inexperienced and unseasoned one. Not only do the games take a physical toll, but they also take a significant mental one.

“I think physically very tired, but mentally even more,” SU head coach Leonid Yelin said. “They probably couldn’t sleep well (last night).”

It was a grueling schedule. Syracuse played a match at 2:30 p.m. on Friday which went five sets, then played another match with only an hour and a half in between.

Friday’s second match didn’t end until after 10 p.m., and it went five sets. Then, on Saturday, SU had to be back at the Women’s Building for an 11 a.m. start.

The exhaustion showed as Syracuse came out with a brutal 12-25 first-set loss Saturday morning. The Orange got it together for the middle sets but fell apart in crunch time, losing in four sets.

“I think coming into the game we were tired. We had two games yesterday. We just had to forget about being tired and just play,” junior Nicolette Serratore said. “Obviously it’s not an excuse, we have to play through it.”

The problem may be more than just exhaustion, though. The lack of experience on the team seems to be affecting its play.

“We are a new team, we have new people,” said sophomore Gosia Wlaszczuk. “We have to work on every single element of volleyball.”

When Syracuse is playing well, the players are performing like seasoned veterans. Freshman setter Erica Handley is a true leader on the court while Serratore and sophomore Silvi Uattara bring it together offensively.

The middle sets of the Oakland game Saturday were proof of that.

“I think things were just clicking. Everything came together the way we wanted to,” said Handley of those sets. “We worked as hard as we could and pushed as hard as we could but things just didn’t click the way we wanted them to.”

SU still lacks teamwork.

“We are not a team yet, we are like individuals,” Wlaszczuk said. “Sometimes things will click and we will keep going and going.”

Most of these problems can be fixed as the season goes along. Whether it is through better team bonding or more practice, the problems are curable.

With three more games next weekend SU will have some things to work on. Losing five of the first six matches can take a toll.

This week will be a good time to work out the biggest kink: SU’s state of mind.

“We just need to be a little more stable, relax a little bit more,” Serratore said. “And kind of have that confidence and that swag that we can go out there and beat these teams if we play like we know we can.”

Published on September 9, 2013 at 12:40 am

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