Dominating New York opponents is a point of emphasis for Jing Pu and his Syracuse team.

And with Colgate coming to Syracuse, the Orange head coach will lead his team in another chapter in the quest to be the best team in the state.

‘Jing has this thing where we need to beat all the New York state teams, so he sort of pushes us to make sure we beat them,’ middle blocker Sam Hinz said.

After settling into conference play with a pair of road wins over St. John’s and Connecticut, Syracuse bounces right back out of conference play for a matchup with Colgate. SU (11-6, 2-1 Big East) takes on the Raiders (6-10, 3-1 Patriot League) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Women’s Building. The Orange defeated its lone in-state Big East opponent in the Red Storm this past weekend.

But for the most part, despite the push to control New York, SU tries not to treat games against in-state foes any differently than the rest.

‘I don’t think we focus too much on the in-state, but it’s definitely always in the back of our girls’ minds,’ assistant coach Kelly Morrisroe said. ‘They know what we try to prove as a college team here in New York and it is important. We’re definitely not overlooking Colgate, but we’ve got some real big important conference matches this weekend, too.’

Unfortunately for Syracuse, the team hasn’t played as well as it would have hoped since its good start against the New York teams.

Syracuse’s goal for statewide dominance began this season with a home victory over Siena in the season-opening Big Orange Tournament. SU then played in the Long Island Tournament two weeks later and beat the host team, Long Island University.

But since then, the Orange has traded victories with its New York rivals. SU dropped its next match on the road to Buffalo at the Buffalo Tournament before beating Cornell later that weekend as part of the same tournament. The Orange also lost to Niagara for the first time in school history, but bounced back last weekend with wins over in-state opponent St. John’s and UConn.

Now, SU can win back-to-back games against New York state teams for the first time since Sept. 9.

But the biggest worry for Morrisroe is that this game comes in the middle of a busy schedule of Big East games.

‘We can’t overlook Colgate,’ Morrisroe said. ‘We can’t ignore them, but at the same time were really anxious, and we want to make sure we’re really prepared for Georgetown and Villanova, too.’

This second-to-last nonconference test won’t necessarily be easy for Syracuse. Though Colgate is just 6-10 this season, the Raiders have won three of their last four games since conference play began and have a setter in Kaylee Fifer that is one of the best Syracuse will face all season.

‘This is probably the most active setter we’ve seen this year, so this will be a good chance to work on setter tips, working on other tips and running transition plays off of that,’ defensive specialist Ashley Williams said.

And while SU now cannot match its undefeated in-state slate from a year ago, it can still finish its season on a high note. The Orange can start this weekend by beating Colgate for the 20th straight year, moving the team to 5-2 in games against New York teams this season, with just a matchup against Binghamton left to play later in the month.

Syracuse also gets the benefit of returning home. The Orange has played well in its two most recent games on the road. But SU has been even better at home, especially in nonconference play.

‘I definitely think we’ve gotten a lot more fans this year and a lot more vocal fans,’ Williams said. ‘It pumps me up. I’m pretty sure the team gets pumped up. It’s very exciting for us to play at home.

‘If we can win on the road and we can win with hecklers and we can win in a different environment that’s not our place, then home should get us even more excited to win.’

dbwilson@syr.edu