Syracuse head coach Leonid Yelin looked at the final box score and couldn’t believe what he saw.

“I never seen this number,” Yelin said. “Lindsay (McCabe) was .700 hitting percentage. That’s a lot. And Monika (Salkute), I never seen her, out of 29, she got more sets than even outside hitter Silvi (Uattara) — which usually Silvi getting much more — and she was hitting over .400.”

Four different players also had at least five kills, due in large part to the play of junior setter Gosia Wlaszczuk.

Because of injuries to outside hitters Nicolette Serratore and Valeriya Shaipova, Syracuse has struggled all season to find any viable attacking options aside from Uattara. But Syracuse (8-12, 1-7 Atlantic Coast), mostly Wlaszczuk, spread the ball around to many different hitters in a 3-0 win over Wake Forest (12-9, 2-5) in the Women’s Building on Sunday.

“Sometimes I can see that my players are down and some people are on fire so I have to go with people who I know will finish for me,” Wlaszczuk said. “Today, I had confidence to set to every single hitter of mine. They were all doing (a) great job so I just wanted to use them all as much as I could.”

In the first set, when SU needed one more point to win, Wlaszczuk turned to Salkute, a middle blocker, for the final kill. Salkute took Wlaszczuk’s long set and smashed it into the arms of the Wake Forest libero, Caroline Wolf, whose dig attempt sent the ball flying over the visitors’ bench.

When the Demon Deacons scored five straight points in the second set — two on service aces and three on SU attack errors — Wlaszczuk went to Salkute again, who hit one just inside the line.

“I feel great because I feel like I’m more involved in helping the team,” Salkute said. “I really feel confident that Gosia is setting for me … and that I’m responsible for the kills.”

With two points to go in the set, McCabe, a middle blocker, knocked down a kill and then Uattara ended it with one of her own.

McCabe finished with eight kills on the day and had her highest hitting percentage of the season. Uattara tallied nine kills and Salkute had 14 for her first double-digit kill performance in almost a month.

Wlaszczuk passed the ball well, finishing with 30 assists — her most in a three-set game since September. In the last two sets, she assisted each of the final two kills.

She was also successful in keeping the defense off balance by faking a hit and setting the ball for one of her hitters.

“I can’t feel more satisfied like when I would pretend I’m hitting and I would set and then Lindsay would hammer the ball at the 10-foot line,” Wlaszczuk said. “It’s just the best feeling ever. I’m happy whenever I trick them and I’m trying to do that more.”

Offensive success hinges upon more than just one player completing a kill, Yelin said, before adding that it requires good passing and the involvement of a lot of skills and players.

Aside from the assists, Wlaszczuk also contributed with five kills. One came when she jumped as if to set the ball, then smashed it down on the other side of the net, prompting the PA announcer to yell, “Gosia Wlaszczuk with the lefty sky hook.”

Though Yelin was pleased with the play of his offense, and his setter specifically, he also saw room for improvement.

Said Yelin of Wlaszczuk: “Overall she did really good anyway, but I can see a lot and I want them to understand how much more potential we have.”

Published on October 19, 2014 at 6:44 pm

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