The Atlantic Coast Conference season started off as bad as it could for Syracuse. The Orange was 0-4 and confidence was low, but after three wins in four matches the attitude is rising.

“I don’t know, I feel more confident,” outside hitter Silvi Uattara said. “Like really much more confident.”

“I feel like what scares (the other team) the most when you see when you’re like very happy and when you’re screaming to their faces,” middle blocker Monika Salkute interjected. “They are getting more uncomfortable and frustrated.”

After an extremely disappointing performance against North Carolina State more than two weeks ago — SU’s (8-12, 3-5 ACC) fourth conference loss in a row — impressive results came almost out of nowhere.

Freshman setter Erica Handley said the work the players have been doing in practice has started to click.

“Everything is really starting to click compared to the beginning of the season and that’s what we were hoping for,” Handley said. “That’s what we’ve been working for.”

Head coach Leonid Yelin, who won his 500th match as a coach on Sunday, runs a grueling practice in which the team works on technique and scrimmages with each other. Yelin requires workouts involving push-ups and laps around the court, usually when one of the players messes up.

During these practices, Yelin has been emphasizing technique and fundamentals that seem to finally be showing in the team’s play. Although Yelin had very little to say about anything regarding the team’s turnaround, Handley feels his practices have made a huge difference.

“I think just from working on all the little things in practice and really just focusing on the basic fundamentals, just makes us get better at making less errors and less mistakes,” Handley said. “That’s what really makes us pull out.”

As the team enjoys its first real success all season, the team seems to be in much better spirits.

During practice, the players appeared to be much more active and energetic, and having more fun. And almost all of the players had smiles on their faces that had not been seen during the days following all of Syracuse’s home ACC losses a few weeks ago.

“It definitely has made it a lot more positive. Everyone’s been really upbeat and happy,” Handley said. “The bus ride home was a lot more relaxing than in the past. It’s a lot more positive now.”

After its slow conference start, Syracuse now has a chance to improve to .500 in the ACC.

The teams Syracuse faces this weekend have not exactly been dominant in ACC play. Georgia Tech only has one conference win, and Clemson is 4-3 in league play.

As the Orange returns home, the team hopes to build off the confidence it gained on the road.

“I think now we feel that we can get more wins in a row,” Salkute said. “Not just one win and then (lose). We have to. We will do this.”

Published on October 23, 2013 at 12:22 am

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