Polina Shemanova’s 30 kills not enough in SU’s 3-2 loss to Florida State
Down 14-11 in the fifth set, Syracuse needed just one final push to keep the game going. After two SU kill attempts were dug during the rally, freshman Polina Shemanova finally converted one, her 30th kill of the match, a career high.
But the next point went to Florida State (11-7, 7-1 Atlantic Coast), giving FSU a 3-2 match win and completing its comeback from being down two sets to zero. Despite the Orange (10-6, 6-2) keeping each set close, never trailing by more than six in four of the five sets, SU couldn’t quite get enough production to finish. While Shemanova racked up her 30 kills, the rest of SU combined for only 36.
“[The Seminoles] have two very reliable outside hitters; we don’t have that,” head coach Leonid Yelin said. “We have only one outside hitter: it’s Polina. We’re not keeping somebody fresh in the most important game.”
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Up front, Santita Ebangwese provided some balance with 16 of those other 36 kills. Several times when SU needed a big point, Ebangwese converted a slide hit to get past Florida State’s strong blockers.
The Seminoles came into the game ranked 15th in blocks per set and finished with 11 on Sunday. The SU players weren’t intimidated coming in, though.
“I never change my game plan,” Ebangwese said. “I hit like I always hit. They’re a decent blocking team, but I do my job.”
But while Ebangwese was able to contribute, Yelin acknowledged there were plays when she didn’t make the best decisions. When FSU went up with two blockers, he saw the Orange sometimes hit straight into them when that could’ve been avoided.
A lot of it also comes down to setting, too, Yelin said.
“I think our setter on those situations—when it’s possible it’s good and she has options—she should be able to see a middle blocker on that side where she’s moving,” Yelin said. “And she was just going to Santita, she just so trusts her, but you have to see it.”
Syracuse tried to create a balance to Shemanova with its other main outside hitters, Yuliia Yastrub and Ella Saada. Yelin frequently subbed the two in and out, but neither provided the answer.
“It’s not a game plan,” he said. “It’s not to keep everyone fresh. It’s just about for a whole match, Ella [hit] -.067 and Yuliia [hit] -.143. So between those two, we didn’t find anyone.”
That attacking failure reflected a match-long offensive difficulty for the Orange. Syracuse hit just .187, while Florida State finished at .291. Syracuse also had 11 more attack errors than the Seminoles.
Yelin expects better going forward, despite not knowing who some of the contributors beyond Shemanova might be.
“We don’t have enough players in the starting lineup,” Yelin said. “Unfortunately I have to be saying it’s true, we don’t. We don’t. So it’s our job to find out those players.”
