Led by captain Hayes, SU volleyball overcoming loss of departed seniors
With the season still in its infant stages, Hayley Todd and the rest of the Syracuse volleyball team don’t want to look too far ahead, even if there is something haunting them from seasons past — something that has stung them for each of the past three starts to their season.
Last season, for the third straight year, Todd and Co. were bounced in the first round of the Big East tournament, courtesy of Louisville. And this time, the team lost its best player in middle blocker Sarah Morton.
‘You can never replace a player like Morton,’ senior Sarah Hayes said. ‘But with all the players we have right now, we’re balancing out that loss.’
Added Todd: ‘We’ve always met Louisville in the first round. Hopefully we can make it past the first round (this year).’
It is still too early to make any judgments, but the team is confident it has enough balance this year to overcome the ‘curse’ of Louisville.
Hayes steps into the captain’s role this season, but the team still has quite a few holes to fill, especially that of Morton, last year’s star player.
But Hayes, Todd and assistant coach Carol LaMarche all came to the same conclusion — that the team is more balanced this year than in recent memory.
The Orange has gotten off to a good start — it won the Colgate Classic Title this past weekend — and its win against Rhode Island highlighted a dominating performance.
Despite losing Morton, the team is focused on finishing games with that balanced roster on both sides of the ball.
‘We have more depth in terms of spreading out our offense and with our back court attacking,’ Todd said. ‘Last year, the majority of the offense came through the middle with Morton. With the right and left side attacking (this year), everyone is solid. … We don’t have any weak spots. … Our numbers will be balanced.’
Hayes and Todd aren’t looking too far ahead. But so far, Hayes said she knows this team has what it takes to make it further than the previous three years. Further than the curse of Louisville.
But there is no need to dwell on the past, Hayes said, because all that matters now is the current slate ahead of SU.
‘We could have always made it past that,’ Hayes said of the team’s three consecutive first-round exits. ‘It’s going to be how we play together this year. Of course we have what it takes.’
As Syracuse’s captain, Hayes will look to fill the leadership role that Morton provided last year.
With five digs in the win over Colgate, Hayes is off to a good start in her production. And LaMarche has noticed a good start in taking over as a leader, too.
‘We lost our captains,’ LaMarche said. ‘The team looks to captains to show them how to react, and we’re confident that Sarah can do that role.’
To help Hayes, Lindsay McCabe and Samantha Hinz are filling the huge void left by Morton. McCabe and Hinz combined for 31 total blocks in SU’s three wins in the Colgate Classic.
SU is only one weekend into its season, but with a strong performance and new players stepping up, the team is already clicking in midseason form. Now, it remains to be seen if that clicking can lead the Orange not just past the curse of Louisville this season, but beyond.
Not that the team is thinking that far ahead, though.
Said LaMarche: ‘First thing’s first. We have got to keep them healthy and start performing.’
