Every year since 2012, Syracuse has participated in a tournament at its home court in the Women’s Building before conference play has begun. But not this season.

Syracuse has already played in the UConn Invitational (Storrs, CT) and Marquette Tournament (Milwaukee, MI). This weekend, SU will play in the Iowa State Tournament (Ames, IA) ahead of its home and ACC opener on Sept. 21 against Georgia Tech. Head coach Leonid Yelin said he would have preferred to play a tournament at home.

“No, it’s not strategy,” Yelin said. “It just worked out this way.”

In 2017, Syracuse went 10-4 at home, but 7-7 on the road and 5-3 at neutral sites. In 2018, the Orange (2-3) hasn’t had the same success in the Women’s Building. Being on the road, though, gives SU two positives: RPI gains and a full roster.

Scheduling difficulties prevented SU from hosting its home tournament. The optimal weekend for opposing teams to visit was during freshman orientation, Yelin said, meaning the Orange would be without its four freshmen.

Through five games, freshman Polina Shemanova leads the team in points (98) and kills (89), both by considerable margins. Senior Santita Ebangwese is second in both categories with 66.5 points and 42 kills. Without Shemanova, the Orange would’ve been without its best attacking option in a hypothetical home tournament.

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Also playing into Yelin’s decision to seek out other tournaments was a lack of quality opponents seeking to play at SU, according to Rating Percentage Index (RPI). The opponents Syracuse (93rd in RPI last season) faced in its home tournament last year finished with RPI rankings of just 111 (Colgate), 199 (Niagara), 274 (Grand Canyon) and 317 (Siena).

“The way they select at the end of the season, the committee, the RPI is very critical,” Yelin said. “So we have to where we can play teams with higher RPI.”

By playing in the Marquette Invitational, for example, Syracuse faced BYU, USC and Marquette, all schools who finished top 33 in RPI last season. They are also all ranked in the top 25 of this week’s AVCA Coaches Poll, with BYU ranked No. 1 in the country.

SU lost all three matches, losing to BYU, 3-0; USC, 3-2; and Marquette, 3-1. But before the games, Yelin said that even losses would be worth the trip.

“That kind of tournament has to help us regardless of the outcome,” he said. “We have to build our team and help to find out who we are, what we have to do. It’s a great tournament.”

Last weekend’s trend of losing away from home has played out since the Orange joined the ACC in 2013. SU’s winning percentage jumps from .433 (39-51) in road and neutral games to .541 (40-34) in games in Syracuse.

Syracuse’s players don’t believe that’s a coincidence.

“I think when we’re on the road and we’re traveling, our bodies are kind of tight or we get tighter because we’re flying and driving and doing all of this cramped stuff,” senior Jalissa Trotter said. “So I think it’s just a mental thing.”

Yelin believes that not having to travel is a positive factor, as well as the ability to stay in the same routine. Ebangwese credited all the practice time that occurs in the Women’s Building during the week.

“We’re used to the orange and the blue,” Ebangwese said. “We can see where we need to be, where we need to hit, where we need to serve. It’s a little easier. Plus, it’s just where we play every day, so we’re used to what other teams aren’t.”

Published on September 11, 2018 at 9:47 pm

Contact Eric: estorms@syr.edu