Syracuse’s improved blocks and service reception are behind lowered opponent hitting percentages

Syracuse’s back row was on its game all night, receiving serves with poise and darting to any ball threatening to land in its territory. Clemson peppered the Orange defense with attacks on Oct. 6, and was repeatedly left frustrated by SU’s resilience.

SU’s dominant run continued when 6-foot-4 Christina Oyawale leapt off the ground and emphatically blocked a Tiger attack attempt. She shouted, flexed and was mobbed by her teammates. The players’ screams, paired with the crowd’s roar, swallowed the Clemson players, who were left looking at each other, hoping to find a solution.

SU went on to sweep the Tigers in straight sets, holding them to an .037 hitting percentage, the lowest mark of any opponent this season. Keeping its opponents’ hitting percentage low has been a theme of Syracuse’s (14-7, 6-2 Atlantic Coast) season, as the Orange has improved in all facets of defending. Last season, the Orange ranked 230th in the nation with an opponent hitting percentage of .217. This year, opponents have a .179 hitting percentage, 70th in the country. Serve reception, Santita Ebangwese said, is the key to having a stable defense.

“You can tell that that the focus as a whole has changed from last year,” Belle Sand said.

Sand, who leads SU with 4.14 digs per set, has been the constant in the back row of SU’s defense, which has used several different pieces this season. Players who identify as hitters, such as Ella Saada and Kendra Lukacs, have been forced to play more defensively due to injuries to teammates and themselves alike. Both Saada and Lukacs rank in the top five on the team in digs with 144 and 121, respectively.

“We want to be that scrappy team that can wear the opponent down,” Sand said of keep rallies alive via digs.

Syracuse practices service reception by having coaches repeatedly serve balls over the net. Each ball is hit in a different direction to best simulate an in-game situation, whether it be across the court, down the line, deep or shallow. During the second part of the drill, a blocker is placed on the defender’s side of the net, and the back row must read around them. The Orange also runs this drill in warmups before each game.

“Our serve reception has gotten much more aggressive,” head coach Leonid Yelin said.

SU’s defense has also benefitted greatly from the improved play of its two main blockers: Ebangwese and Oyawale. The 6-foot Ebangwese leads the team with 1.41 blocks per set, up .28 since last season. Oyawale ranks third on the team with .8 blocks per set, up .24 since last season. Often times, the two assist each other on the block like against Wake Forest on Oct. 1. The two assisted each other on a block three times, including a first-set-ending stuff en route to a four-set victory.

Similar to how SU practices service reception, coaches hit balls over the net for the blockers to repel. Sometimes, Ebangwese said, the ball will intentionally be hit out-of-bounds, and it is up to the blocker’s judgment to touch it or not.

“We’re working on timing, when to jump, when to go up, and picking a spot to block,” Ebangwese said.

The Orange’s improvement blocking and digging has helped turn a once vulnerable defense into a focal point of success.