Kendra Lukacs flourishes for Syracuse volleyball after learning the sport from her family
About 100 other kids stood between Kendra Lukacs and a spot on the youngest volleyball club team in Calgary. All her life she had played racket sports, including badminton and squash, but when the game point floated her team’s way in one of the tryout scrimmages, she screamed for the ball despite not knowing what to do.
Her mother had always told her to try new things. If she didn’t enjoy it that was the only way to find out. Lukacs may have hit that game point far out of bounds, but in that moment the intensity of the game sunk in and she came to a realization. She loved volleyball.
Now an SU freshman outside hitter, Lukacs grew up in a volleyball family that helped shape her into the family’s best athlete. The Orange (3-11, 2-2 ACC) has utilized her ball control and defense early and often this season. She currently ranks top four on the team in kills (68), digs per set (1.58), total blocks (25) and points (88.5).
Lukacs’ mother, Karen, previously competed on the University of Calgary’s first volleyball team. Justin, her brother, won a national championship in his first year of post-secondary play. Her father, a soccer player turned volleyball fan, helped start “the second true volleyball facility in in Canada,” Karen said.
Justin began as a soccer player, transitioning to volleyball and eventually serving as both an inspiration and partner in improvement for Kendra.
“I think that her seeing me have so much fun with it and some success pushed her more toward finding a good school that she could find success with,” he said. “We do play together quite a bit. It’s mostly just in our backyard playing pepper. … We definitely give each other pointers.”
Justin’s career reached its plateau and Karen’s career dwindled from overseas play to yearly involvement in the Americas Masters Games — a multisport event for people 30 years or older.
All the while, Kendra was beginning to flourish at heights neither of them had accomplished. With the Dino Volleyball Club, the same one her mother played for, Kendra won nationals while claiming MVP of Canada honors.
Lukacs was in ninth grade and 2,280 miles away from Syracuse when she caught the attention of new head coach Leonid Yelin. He was attempting to revive the program, which he just took over in his first season in 2012.
“She demonstrated ball control, which is very important to us, and we saw it,” Yelin said. “She had room to grow to be a better player.”
The school was the easy appeal for Lukacs. That’s what stuck out in her visits following SU’s offer — the first she received. She saw it as a great academic school with unique architecture that offered programs she was interested in.
On the volleyball side, Yelin emulated what made her love volleyball in the first place: the intensity. She appreciated Yelin’s vigor and that he gave her feedback.
“Coach is a very intense coach and I actually love that,” Lukacs said. “… When you’re lacking it’s really good to have someone who can pick you up and say ‘let’s go’ and point on when you’re making mistakes and when you need to push forward together as a team.”
In many ways, Lukacs is part of the groundwork for a program that has come a long way since her initial recruitment. The university commits more money to the program than it ever has, Yelin said, making it easier for the team to recruit American players that it couldn’t get when he arrived. Yelin hasn’t reached outside the United States for recruiting in two years.
Her mother’s advice propelled her on the path to the sport she loved and, depending on what the future holds, she could be part of the first SU volleyball team to ever reach a NCAA tournament one day.
“I would mostly credit my mom,” Lukacs said. “She’s always been there since I started out. Is always giving me notes on the sideline, always getting her two cents in. It’s really helped me.”