Syracuse feeds off season-high crowd in loss to North Carolina
Nicolette Serratore dove into the Syracuse bench area, getting a hand on the ball and deflecting it back into play. Her teammates pushed it over the net, and the North Carolina hitters sent it back, only to be blocked into the ground by Monika Salkute.
The crowd of 623, a season high for the Orange, erupted as the Syracuse bench spilled onto the floor. The players screamed, hugging each other as the scoreboard tallied another point. Even though it was late in the fourth set and the Orange trailed two sets to one, SU fed off of the crowd.
“(The fans) are really into the game,” Serratore said, “So it just kind of gives us more adrenaline, and makes us work that much harder.”
SU head coach Leonid Yelin has said in the past that he wishes SU could see more of a crowd. After Friday night, the numbers are starting to take a step in the that direction. Still, Syracuse’s attendance is nowhere close to other places in the NCAA, like Nebraska, where attendance routinely tops 8,000, Yelin said.
“To have this crowd, it’s just great,” Yelin said, “But we have to do everything we can to have this crowd every game we play.”
Doing “everything we can” has included recent promotions from the athletic department, including Friday night’s Orange Out, as well as a free wristband giveaway.
For the fans that make the trip to the games, they’ve been welcomed on numerous occasions by SU’s acapella group, the Otto Tunes, as well as the SU pep band.
One of the main factors that has helped bring fans back into the Women’s Building, Yelin said, is the record of this year’s team. Currently sitting at 8-5 in the ACC, the Orange already has six more conference wins than last season.
“We always say, nobody wants to come watch losers,” Yelin said, “We have to start winning.”
As the wins have started coming in for the Orange, the fans have as well. Friday night’s game saw attendance from not only the 623 fans, but also the men’s and women’s crew and soccer teams, and Otto’s Army.
“We knew that a lot of people were coming out, and they also had a ‘let’s support the girls mentality,’” sophomore Leah Levert said. “It was really cool.”
The fans on Friday night were vocal, screaming at every play, cheering for every point, and jeering at the referees. Even after SU dropped the last point of the fourth set, many fans stayed behind for the alma mater as the team applauded them.
And even in the loss, the Orange fed off of their energy.
“It’s really nice to see that this season we are doing a lot better, and we could see the result,” Serratore said, “We have more fans coming back, and more people are really into the game”