Volleyball deserves love

The old adage says: ‘Practice how you play.’

For the Syracuse women’s volleyball team, it plays how it practices – that is, in an empty gym.

The Orange has averaged 156 people in nine matches this year, the second lowest among all SU fall sports teams, with field hockey the lowest at 139.

Ironically, with a 22-5 record, the volleyball team has the best record at SU this fall.

‘It’s frustrating,’ junior Kristen Conway said. ‘We’re starting to get a little more interest because we’re winning now, but it’s still not where it should be.’

When Conway means a little more interest, she means just that – a little. In nine home matches last season, the Orange averaged 144 people. After nine home matches this season, the Orange is only getting eight more people per match.

‘This year’s turnout has been better than last year’s,’ senior Morgan Jones said.

True, if you’re thinking with the glass half full. But unless those eight extra people showing up happen to be the loudest hecklers in sports, something tells me the Orange isn’t exactly spiking attendance the way it does volleyballs.

‘The first step is just winning,’ Conway said. ‘People don’t want to watch a losing team.’

Apparently, they don’t want to watch a winning one either.

SU was 16 -11 at this point in the season last year. If you do your math correctly, that’s only 1.3 more people a win.

They’re not exactly filing into Manley Field House in droves with each SU victory.

But to be fair, it’s more complex than just winning to draw fans when it comes to volleyball, SU assistant coach Sarah Chlebana said.

‘There seems to be less public interest in volleyball in the Northeast region,’ Chlebana said. ‘It’s big in California, the Midwest and Texas.’

And Chlebana would know. Chlebana played volleyball at California State-Sacramento, graduating in 2002. This season the Hornets are averaging 423 fans a game.

‘Our gym was usually filled,’ Chlebana said. ‘There’s a lot more exposure out there and a lot more people play.’

Notre Dame, a perennial powerhouse in the Big East, is averaging 1,250 fans this season – a number of which the SU football team, never mind volleyball, might be jealous.

‘You go to Notre Dame and they have their male athletes there (heckling) the other team,’ Conway said. ‘In warm-ups, they yell out your number and try to have you lose focus.’

Most teams do. The Fighting Irish are 6-0 in the Big East this season and have won the conference seven times since joining in 1995.

But SU head coach Jing Pu said it’s because of what Notre Dame does on the court, not in its stands, that makes it intimidating.

‘First of all, (Notre Dame) is a better team,’ Pu said. ‘Their large crowd puts us at a disadvantage, but in general, the team must be good with or without the crowd. A big crowd gives added excitement to the game, but it doesn’t make a difference as far as game results.’

Still, the Orange players wouldn’t mind a few extra voices in the stands.

‘Volleyball is such a mental game,’ Conway said. ‘You can see points in the game where parents are cheering and our level of play steps up and pumps everyone up. In that aspect, if more people stepped in, we’d do even better.’

Now that I think of it, I should bring my homework to Manley Field House during volleyball matches. It’s unquestionably more silent than the Bird Library.

The Orange certainly deserves better when it comes to attendance, especially considering the new winning ways.

‘We have a good opportunity to make the tournament this season,’ Jones said,

‘which we haven’t done in a long time. You look at the Olympics and people were in amazement over the excitement in volleyball. If people came to our games, they’d be addicted to it like they were with the Olympics.’

Jones suggested the Orange might gain more fans if SU put up fliers advertising upcoming home games. For this Sunday’s game against Connecticut, the SU athletics marketing department has invited regional high schools to come and watch – a gesture given annually to get younger players involved and interested in SU.

If a winning team and intense competition weren’t reason enough for attending, both Conway and Jones reminded fans of one other attraction: girls in spandex.

‘You look at tennis and people go to see Anna Kournikova because she’s beautiful,’ Conway said. ‘People went to volleyball games in high school for that reason, and if that initially brings in fans here, then that’s fine. But we just hope they realize how exciting the game is and they keep coming back for that.’

Hey, that whole spandex thing, I wasn’t going to go there. But since you’re pulling teeth … what time’s the game on Sunday?