Late in the second set, senior setter Gosia Wlaszczuk set the ball to the other side of the court to senior outside hitter Nicolette Serratore. Serratore attacked the ball and sent it to the other side of the court.

The ball landed uncontested, and Syracuse took a 19-15 lead in the second set.

It was one of 15 kills for Serratore, who was one-third of a dominant offensive trio in Syracuse’s (7-2) four-set win over New Hampshire (6-7) on Saturday evening at the Women’s Building. Serratore and senior outsider hitters Monika Salkute and Silvi Uattara all recorded double-digit kill counts in an impressive attacking performance.

Sophomore libero Belle Sand said the triple-threat gives her confidence that her teammates can achieve a kill when the ball comes to them.

“They’re such smart hitters. They see the block, they see the defenders,” Sand said. “They know what they’re doing up there at the net.”

This trend started early on in the game, as Syracuse opened the scoring with four consecutive points, three of which came from kills. Fourteen out of the Orange’s 25 points in its first set victory were from kills, all of which were recorded by Serratore, Salkute, and Uattara.

It wasn’t until the 17th point of the third set that anyone other than those three recorded a kill for the Orange.

Salkute and Uattara recorded 17 kills each while Serratore collected 15 of her own to bring the trio’s kill total to 58.

“Big kills, it brings not only myself up, but all the team,” Salkute said. “Making every point … makes everyone feel better.”

While the three hitters carried the team’s attack, they were largely helped by Wlaszczuk, who recorded 32 assists for Syracuse. Her performance was part of a string of impressive set totals that have greatly helped the offense this season.

Aside from praising Wlaszczuk, Salkute attributed the team’s strong attack to emphasized concentration. SU head coach Leonid Yelin reinforced the notion of concentration after the third set, which it lost despite winning the first two.

“You just have to play every point. That’s what we keep telling them,” Yelin said. “It’s not just every game, every point. Every point it’s a new kind of micro-game.”

Salkute displayed this principle after one particular kill in the third set, at which time she pumped her first with her knuckles towards herself.

That kind of positivity spreads around the court. Sand said she loses her voice after almost every contest celebrating with her team after powerful points like the ones Salkute, Serratore, and Uattara produced against New Hampshire.

“That’s what we want to see and that’s what people come to see,” Sand said. “They come to see those amazing kills, and when we give them to them, which all three can, it’s just such an amazing feeling.”

Published on September 19, 2015 at 9:53 pm

Contact Kevin: kjpacell@syr.edu