To Carol LaMarche, Syracuse is 0-0. No wins, no losses. It’s back to the start. And though that may seem odd considering her team is actually off to a record start at 16-0, it makes sense to the SU assistant coach.

For LaMarche, the record that really matters is the team’s wins and losses in Big East play. And that’s the record the team will look to build starting this weekend, when it plays games against Georgetown on Friday and South Florida on Sunday.

‘It’s great that we’re 16-0, best in Syracuse history,’ LaMarche said. ‘But it means nothing once Big East starts. Everyone starts 0-0. It’s the Big East record that gets you into the conference tournament. Everyone knows that.’

The team may be putting its record aside this weekend, but not the collective team effort and intensity that has gotten SU to its 16-0 start.

There has not been one single player responsible for SU’s wins this season. Hayley Todd, Noemie Lefebvre and Mindy Stanislovaitis have been responsible for much of the high-powered offensive showing this season, and Ashley Williams has stepped up in her libero position.

But those are just a few of the players. It is not far-fetched to say nearly every player on the roster has had a major contribution at some point this season.

The team will be out to get those contributions from everyone this weekend as it attempts to sweep its matches against Georgetown and South Florida.

‘We definitely just want to dominate in both of those games,’ Todd said. ‘This sets us up for Big East standing and will give us a good indication of where we are going to be in those standings.’

The Orange beat both teams by a score of 3-1 last season at Manley Field House, and SU will be favored again to win both matches.

But by no means does that mean SU is taking either team lightly. This is Big East play, after all. Plus, just last weekend the team was pushed to five sets by Kent State, a team similar to a middle-of-the-pack Big East team. A team similar to the ones SU is facing this weekend.

‘Everyone knows that these are two important games, and this past weekend did give us a good boost of confidence,’ LaMarche said.

If the Orange can win both games, it will be on the right track. And along the way, it can surprise some people, too.

Not that the Orange wasn’t expected to be good. The team just wasn’t expected to be 16 win-zero loss good. Coming off a fifth-place finish in the Big East and a first-round loss to Louisville in the Big East tournament, expectations around the Big East weren’t exactly sky-high.

‘When Big East rankings came out, we weren’t predicted to do very well this year,’ Stanislovaitis said. ‘So we just want to show everyone that we’re a good team, that we can be top of the Big East, not just pulling in the middle.’

And though the team wants to be successful in the Big East, it isn’t worried as much about itself as it is about what its opponents are doing.

SU has been working on getting the middles stronger and developing more as a team. There is confidence because its win against Kent State gave SU a sense of what the team is capable of.

‘I think we’re ready to compete against any Big East team,’ Lefebvre said. ‘Kent State was definitely a good game to start with right before Big East.’

And Todd said she believes the team is ready to translate its 16-0 record to wins in Big East play.

‘I know, personally, Big East games always have a lot more excitement,’ Todd said. ‘There’s more adrenaline because they’re so important. It’s not so much about getting to know your team anymore. It’s about performing once you get to Big East.’

rnmarcus@syr.edu

 

Published on September 23, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Rachel: rnmarcus@syr.edu