Inside Polina Shemanova and Elena Karakasi’s friendship

Polina Shemanova and Elena Karakasi’s families live over 4,000 miles away. While their teammates’ parents come out to support the volleyball team during games, the two roommates often look to the bleachers and see unfamiliar faces. 

Since freshman year, the sophomore volleyball players from Russia and Greece have roomed together, practiced and played together. When they feel homesick, they count down the days until they return home. They watch movies, talk it through and cry together. 

At Syracuse, Karakasi said she and Shemanova are family. 

Shemanova and Karakasi are known for fueling the Orange (10-13, 7-9 Atlantic Coast) offensively on the court, but off it, the two have also become best friends, bonding over shared experiences as international students and roommates. 

“It was a great decision for us (to room together) because we were new and we didn’t know anything,” Shemanova said. “We were learning all together and the homesickness and all that. We were helping each other.” 

Before Karakasi arrived for preseason training in the summer, Yelin asked her if she would prefer to live with another international player on the team or an American player. Though she was nervous about speaking English in bulk, something an American roommate might have helped her with, she knew that someone else from Europe would be more comforting. 

When Yelin asked Shemanova the same question, Shemanova said it didn’t make sense to “live with a Russian if you came from Russia,” because that defeats the whole purpose of being an international student and experiencing new cultures. Shemanova and Karakasi ended up together, and have been “on the same page” ever since, Karakasi said. 

While Shemanova struggled to understand nearly everyone during her first month at SU because of their accents, Shemanova admits that she never had issues communicating with Karakasi. Over time, Karakasi said she can even understand Shemanova’s conversations with her parents in Russian. Initially, Karakasi could only say “Da,” which means yes, but she has learned that Russian and Greek are quite similar. Shemanova has also learned to understand Karakasi’s conversations in Greek.

Shemanova often walks through their South Campus apartments and hears Karakasi’s parents on FaceTime screaming through the phone, begging her to visit them in Marousi-Athens, Greece. Though Karakasi’s mom has only met Shemanova once, she knows how close they are.

“Polina, Polina, come to Greece, come to Greece,” Shemanova said Karakasi’s parents yell at her. “And they’re being so serious.” 

It goes both ways. Karakasi has also received countless invitations to visit Shemanova’s hometown. For Karakasi’s birthday last year, Shemanova gave Karakasi travel brochures for her hometown of St. Petersburg, Russia for when her friend eventually visits.

Their outgoing personalities make them compatible roommates. When their teammates talk about problems with their own roommates, Shemanova and Karakasi both don’t know what to say — they don’t have issues like many others.

“Some people argue, like ‘Why didn’t you wash the dishes, why didn’t you clean,’ like we don’t have that at all,” Shemanova said. “Sometimes I’ll wash, sometimes she’ll wash. We’re just clicking so well.” 

Their success as roommates translates onto the court. Part of their chemistry comes from playing so many reps together, but Karakasi adds that because she spends so much time interacting with Shemanova on a day-to-day basis, another part of it comes “without even try(ing).” 

During matches, the two often make eye-contact for a brief moment if there is a free-ball. Karakasi sets passes to Shemanova for spikes, and they said they have an unspoken connection. 

“I’m just looking at her and she’s like ‘Okay, I got you, I saw you, great,’” Shemanova said. 

Shemanova knows her success on the court would be impossible without Karakasi — on an Instagram post commending her as the ACC’s leader in kills per set and points per set, Shemanova commented “wouldn’t achieve it without you obviously,” and tagged her setter. 

But the sophomores know their relationship extends beyond assists and kills. On Nov. 13, as Karakasi eavesdropped from an adjacent table in Manley Fieldhouse, Shemanova thought about her favorite aspects of their friendship and tried to quip. 

“Something bad? Elena is the worst roommate—” Shemanova said before breaking down laughing. 

She couldn’t even finish making fun of her best friend. She couldn’t think of anything bad.