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Polina Shemanova stayed patient in the middle of the court as Louisville served with a 3-1 lead in the third set. Alyssa Bert botched the return, forcing Lauren Woodford to contort her body on the right sideline to keep the ball alive. 

Woodford dug the ball, sending it high enough in the air for Shemanova to leap up for a powerful spike. 

The kill marked Shemanova’s 1,699th career kill, putting her at the top of Syracuse’s all-time kills list, a spot previously held by Dana Fiume (1997-2000) for over two decades.

“You don’t realize the importance of it until you’re gone,” Fiume said about the feat. 

Shemanova began the 2022 season sixth on the list. She entered the 1,500 kill club on Sept. 1, just four games into this season, and became the fifth player to eclipse the mark. The next day against UCF, she moved into fourth on the all-time list, passing former outside hitter Kristen Conway (2002-05). To get to third, Shemanova reached 1,550 to leapfrog over Silvi Uattara.

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During Syracuse’s Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Boston College, Shemanova moved into second place after earning a crucial point in the deciding set. Up to that point, Shemanova had averaged under 15 kills a game, which had her on pace to break the record with at least seven more games. But it only took her six.

Shemanova amassed a season-high 28 kills (also her highest single-game total since 2019) against Wake Forest. Two days later at Virginia Tech, she smashed 24 more kills to combine for 52 on the weekend, which earned her ACC Player of the Week honors.

In Syracuse’s first ACC loss to Notre Dame on Oct. 7, Shemanova led the team with 15, putting her 10 short of the record entering Sunday’s game. 

Though the Cardinals dominated on both sides of the net in their straight-set win, Shemanova notched 13 kills to move her career total to 1,701. But Shemanova aims to cap off her career by leading the Orange to their second appearance in the NCAA Tournament. 

“I’m even happier for her because she really cares about the outcome of the team,” head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said. “She’d trade these records for more wins anyday, and that shows you what kind of player she is.”

Shemanova committed to Syracuse through a connection between former head coach Leonid Yelin and Mariia Levanova, who played at SU from 2015-18. Yelin flew out to St. Petersburg in January 2018 and after a pleasant meeting with Shemanova’s parents, the move to SU was an easy decision. 

“She was what we were missing,” Yelin said. “The records, her performances, and what we achieved as a team, it speaks for itself.” 

In Shemanova’s freshman season, Syracuse clinched its first ever NCAA tournament berth. The 2018 ACC Freshman of the Year notched a team-high 12 kills in the first round against Yale. 

Shemanova continued to produce in her sophomore year, tallying a program-record 36 kills against Louisville in November 2019. She also recorded a Syracuse single-game record 36 kills against Boston College and finished every match of the season with double-digit kill totals.

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“She’s a person that you can lean on,” said Marina Markova, who transferred from Syracuse after last season. “Every set is probably going to Polina because she can finish it off and that’s reflected by her statistics.” 

Markova is also from Russia and played against Shemanova throughout her childhood. Markova described Shemanova as the ‘leader’ of her club team, easily the biggest threat to gameplan around.

“She’s the person that will push the team to make everyone better,” Markova said. “That’s how she was before, that’s how she is now, and that’s how she’ll continue to be in the future.”

Shemanova said her success lies in not focusing on the score of the game. To win, the effort must be there all the time. Fiume said attackers must constantly handle situations that aren’t going “perfect.”

“I literally stick with the same mentality in practice or on the court, go hard, work hard, in my opinion, keep the same mentality to be the best,” Shemanova said.

Conway said her own personal success came from resiliency, which she said is a key to being one of the greats. She’s followed Shemanova’s journey on social media. 

“You can tell she’s put the time and the hard work in,” Conway said. “To see that pay off is just awesome. I’m just excited for her.”  

With a heavy roster turnover after several players transferred, Shemanova, who is in her third straight season as co-captain, has adopted a far greater leadership role compared to seasons past. She has enjoyed the process of helping coach the new and younger teammates to build a tight-knit squad in Ganesharatnam’s first year as head coach.

“I see it as a very big plus,” Shemanova said. “We are literally like a family. We’re a small group of people with the same goals.” 

Immediately after the match finished on Sunday, Shemanova’s teammates gathered around her, giving her flowers and printouts of pictures. SU assistant coach Aven Lee tried her best to maneuver through the converging crowds with a phone in her hand. It displayed a WhatsApp call from Shemanova’s parents, sending their congratulations from afar. 

“I mean, hard work pays off,” Shemanova said. “And today’s the day that proves that.”

Published on October 10, 2022 at 1:17 am

Contact Tyler: [email protected] | @theTylerSchiff