SU volleyball looks to break 15-year losing streak to Notre Dame
As the Syracuse volleyball team heads west to South Bend, Ind., to face Notre Dame on Saturday, it is set to take on conditions unlike any the team has experienced this year.
‘Notre Dame’s home-court advantage is incredible,’ senior Hayley Todd said. ‘It gets really loud. That’s always part of it when you go to Notre Dame. But just Notre Dame in general always has good teams.’
And on top of those conditions, SU will be facing a team it hasn’t beaten in 15 years. Since head coach Jing Pu has been at the helm in that span, SU has yet to tackle the Fighting Irish – at home or on the road.
SU (21-3, 3-3 Big East) will face that Fighting Irish (12-8, 5-2) squad in the first game of the weekend before facing DePaul (3-19, 0-7) in the following match on Sunday.
The Orange isn’t taking DePaul lightly, but the Blue Demons don’t have a daunting win-streak over the Orange. Notre Dame, however, does.
And that is a thought that is on the mind of every SU player heading into the match.
‘It’s just the way we’ve matched up,’ Todd said. ‘It’s never been in our favor before.’
SU currently sits at 3-3 in the Big East despite dominating their non-conference slate, including Tuesday’s 3-0 beatdown against Cornell. That game let the Orange fine tune both sides of the ball. They will need to be at full strength to pull off the win come Saturday.
Despite the many losses to the Fighting Irish throughout the years, Todd still believes that the Orange can get the win this year. Even though it hasn’t happened in ages.
‘I think definitely we can come out on top this weekend,’ Todd said.
Though the record books may be against SU, the Notre Dame team it will be facing has struggled as of late. They are not the mighty power they once were.
That is something that Syracuse assistant coach Carol LaMarche is keeping fresh in her mind.
‘Notre Dame is down,’ LaMarche said. ‘They lost some games that they normally wouldn’t have lost in the past. So I think it’s going to be a good matchup.’
SU must come out strong and maintain their composure throughout the match. Because a down game in the Big East is unacceptable. Even the teams at the bottom of the standings will give teams challenges, LaMarche said, so SU has to come out ready to attack and defend from the get-go.
If LaMarche is right, then SU may be able to catch a Notre Dame team stuck in a downward spiral.
‘I definitely think it’s in our reach this year,’ freshman Lindsay McCabe said. ‘They had a couple of rough games recently so we’re going to try and take advantage of that. This is definitely one we’d like to have.’
But they will still have to work extra hard to get the win. Notre Dame may not be on a hot streak, but they are still Notre Dame. They are a talented team, and the conditions won’t make the match any easier for the Orange.
SU plans to come out with plenty of energy of their own though. This is a game that they have been looking forward to. A series that they want to turn in their favor.
‘We want to try to beat Notre Dame for the first time which would be really exciting for us, just the overall program history,’ Todd said.
Still, the larger goal is to remain in the hunt in the conference standings.
‘For Big East, we want to stay in the top,’ Todd said. ‘We want to win.’
And building a winning record off their current Big East mark starts against Notre Dame. Against the conditions, and against the one team that has plagued the Orange for a decade and a half.
‘Everyone’s really excited for the game,’ McCabe said. ‘We’re kind of counting down to the game at practice. This is definitely a highlight of the season.’
