Viktoriia Lokhmanchuk’s ascent to a consistent role for SU volleyball

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Viktoriia Lokhmanchuk and Abby Casiano rose up to the net as Virginia Tech’s Griere Hughes attempted a spike. The duo overpowered Hughes and sent the ball back to the Virginia Tech side and into Hughes’ lap. The ball fell onto the ground, giving Syracuse the point.

The next play, Lokhmanchuk and Casiano replicated the previous one and combined for another block to help Syracuse take a 14-8 lead in the first set of the Oct. 3 game.

Lokhmanchuk finished the game with six kills and an efficient .429 hitting percentage, along with two total blocks and two digs to help the Orange beat Virginia Tech in a straight sweep. Even with the return of outside hitters Polina Shemanova and Marina Markova this season, Lokhmanchuk has played a more consistent role for Syracuse head Coach Leonid Yelin’s team with improved defense.

Last season, Lokhmanchuk was third on the team with 95 kills and also totaled 13 total blocks. Through 16 games this year, Lokhmanchuk has already surpassed her kill total from last season, recording 103. This year, Shemanova and Markova have accounted for 54% of all attacks this season, giving Lokhmanchuk fewer attack chances.

Maya Goosmann | Design Director

Last year, Lokhmanchuk only posted a .089 hitting percentage. But this season she has become more reliable, and even with only 256 total attacks, she has been even more efficient with a .277 hitting percentage. To work on her hitting, Lokhmanchuk focused on her reach in the offseason. In practice, Lokhmanchuk always attempted to hit the ball at the climax, she said.

Lokhmanchuk has also improved defensively — last season she finished with only 13 total blocks but has more than tripled that this season with 41, the fifth-highest mark on the team. The outside hitter has had more opportunities for blocks because Yelin has shifted her all over the court throughout this year, forcing her to be more versatile. Last year, Lokhmanchuk stayed solely on the outside. She said this change requires more trust between herself and setter Elena Karakasi, and the two have worked on practicing their timing together on attacks.

“We talk a lot about our connection, and she’s really good about telling me what set she wants,” Karakasi said. “It’s good to have your hitters communicate with you.”

Lokhmanchuk has also returned from a 2019 ACL tear, which forced her to sit out for a season. She played all of last season in a large knee brace that felt uncomfortable.

Even though she played in every game, Yelin said he was “still so afraid” for Lokhmanchuk when she took the court. For something routine like jumping, Lokhmanchuk struggled to physically and mentally get back into shape, Yelin said.

Maya Goosmann | Design Director

At the end of the spring season in 2020, however, she began to practice with a gray knee sleeve, which she has worn all of this season. Unlike the hard and rigid structure of her previous brace, the sleeve allows her to move more freely.

But Lokhmanchuk has still faced challenges this season. After the loss against third-ranked Lousiville on Oct. 10, she sat out for two weeks due to “medical reasons,” Yelin said.

Whether Lokhmanchuk aggravated her knee or not, the team missed her consistency, dropping three straight games against ACC opponents without her on the court. During that stretch, Syracuse’s hitting percentage fell .109 below its season average and also averaged about three more errors per game.

On Sunday against Clemson, Lokhmanchuk checked back in for the start of the third set, seeing action for the first time in two weeks. Even though she saw limited action, she picked up right where she left off, and on the first rally she leapt up from the right side of the court and spiked the ball onto the Clemson floor, untouched, to put Syracuse up 1-0. The Orange defeated the Tigers in straight sets.

“It’s really exciting to see her back,” Markova said on her return to the court Sunday. “She really can help us in blocking and hitting.”