The ball rose high in the air, ready to be buried into the wooden floor of Fitzgerald Field House at the University of Pittsburgh. Kendra Lukacs set her feet, ready to launch herself above the net. Her eyes locked on the ball, but she barely made it off the ground.

Two plays prior, the sophomore outside hitter landed awkwardly on her ankle. She promptly had it wrapped and returned to action, only to discover her injury was more serious than she hoped.

“After I jumped,” Lukacs said. “I realized I couldn’t play.”

With Lukacs out, in came Ella Saada. Saada, a freshman, quickly filled Lukacs’ role as one of Syracuse’s (11-6, 3-1 Atlantic Coast) offensive weapons. Lukacs had recorded 11 or more kills in each of her last six games before injuring her ankle. In the two games since, Saada led or tied for the lead in Orange kills, tallying 15 and 13 against Duke and Wake Forest, respectively. Both contests ended in SU victories.

“It’s not a surprise to us the way she has played,” head coach Leonid Yelin said. “She’s a great player.”

Saada started the season as one of Syracuse’s main hitters. In her first 10 games of the year, the 6-foot-1 freshman recorded 76 kills, second highest on the team behind Santita Ebangwese’s 91. The Orange went 6-4 in those games, a vast improvement from last season’s 1-9 start.

Then, a recurring shoulder injury forced her to give up hitting, and Yelin assigned her a more defensive role.

“We kind of had no choice,” Yelin said. “The doctors said it’d be a good idea to work on her shoulder and not to play (on offense).”

Five games went by, and Saada didn’t record a kill. The style of play the Kfar Masaryk, Israel native was so familiar with started to slip away from her, while Lukacs and Anastasiya Gorelina established themselves as Syracuse’s primary hitters.

“(Hitting) is the only volleyball I know,” Saada said. “Defense is really important, and we have to do it. But it’s a lot more fun hitting.”

Despite returning to her original position as an outside hitter in Lukacs’ absence, Saada is upset with how it came to be. She didn’t want an injury to be the reason for her return to outside hitter. She wanted to earn it herself.

Saada hopes to solidify her role as a key offensive tool going forward, even after Lukacs returns from injury. Saada doesn’t want to do is go back to being a defensive player, something Yelin intends to carry out.

“She’s a hitter,” Yelin said.

Published on October 5, 2017 at 8:33 pm

Contact David: ddschnei@syr.edu