Kendra Lukacs thrives as substitute at libero in 3-0 win against North Carolina

About ten minutes before Syracuse and UNC convened on their respective baselines for the national anthem, junior libero Aliah Bowllan stood on the sideline with her warm up jacket still draped around her shoulders. As the rest of the Syracuse ran through its final warmup, Bowllan bobbed her head up and down to “Butterfly Effect” by Travis Scott.

The navy blue jacket with Orange trim never left Bowllan’s back in Syracuse’s (11-6, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) straight set win over North Carolina (5-12, 1-8) at the Women’s Building. The libero had appeared in 19 of the previous 20 sets, but sat out Friday night with an elbow injury, SU head coach Leonid Yelin said. Junior outside hitter Kendra Lukacs wore the blue libero jersey in her place and tallied 11 digs, second on the team behind freshman Polina Shemanova.

“As much as Aliah’s sliding all over the floor, I don’t think she has one healthy part of her body,” Yelin said. “She hit it lately, her elbow, and there’s no time for healing… That’s why it’s good to have Kendra.”

A few minutes before senior Jalissa Trotter delivered the opening serve of the match, Yelin approached Lukacs. Up until that point, he was unsure if Bowllan was going to be ready to play. He wanted to start Bowllan, but he knew that she might suffer an even more serious injury. Five minutes before the match began, Yelin told Lukacs that she would play libero, he said.

Even with almost no time to prepare, Lukacs excelled in the role, Yelin said.

Leading 6-5 early on in the first set, sophomore Yuliia Yastrub fired a float serve toward the Tar Heels libero, Mia Fradenburg. Fradenburg pushed the ball to freshman Ava Bell who whiffed on a kill attempt. The ball spun over the net toward Lukacs, but she was prepared. She jumped backwards and slapped the ball into the air with both of her hands.

After a Shemanova hit, UNC’s kill attempt once again fell to Lukacs. Outstretched, she saved the point by stretching out to her right and batting the ball towards Trotter. After a blocked kill attempt, Trotter smacked an attack into an unsuspecting Tar Heel defender who couldn’t recover in time.

Lukacs said that, no matter if she’s playing outside hitter, defensive specialist, or libero, she plays with the same mindset: do whatever possible to help Syracuse win.

“I think that’s something I mentally try and prepare for,” she said. “Whatever my team needs from me, I’m going to play my best.”

In the second set, Lukacs continued to thrive in the role left by Bowllan. Leading the Tar Heels 3-2, Lukacs stood on her toes as UNC junior Skylar Wine spiked the ball toward the bleachers. Lukacs immediately took two steps to her left and desperately deflected the ball. Her soaring dig fell to Trotter, who pushed the ball in the direction of Shemanova. She slammed a spike between two Tar Heels.

Lukacs’ relentless mentality embodied the spirit of Syracuse. After recognizing that the ACC bottom feeders were not willing to back down and hand the Orange an easy victory, SU increased the intensity, Trotter said. The Orange dove into bleachers, ran into the scorer’s table trying to receive misplaced digs and jeopardized a few bruises and scrapes to keep points alive.

“We realized they were hustling so we had to go above their hustle,” Trotter said. “We had to match it and then move forward.”