Confidence. That’s what the Syracuse volleyball team took out of the Cleveland State Invitational, despite suffering its first two losses of the season. The Orange went down, 3-2, at the hands of then-No.20 Michigan State, then dropped its second match of the tournament, 3-2, against Cleveland State

But the losses didn’t faze the Orange (4-2).

The Orange will take its newfound confidence into the Rhode Island Tournament this weekend. SU plays Brown on Friday before taking on Rhode Island and New Hampshire Saturday in Kingston, R.I.

‘It was good to play at that Top 20, NCAA tournament level and be right there with them,’ junior middle blocker Hayley Todd said. ‘We know now that we just have a couple things to work on, and we can be right at that level.’

Assistant coach Carol LaMarche said there are two key lessons Syracuse needs to take out of those two losses and bring into its upcoming games.

First, the Orange needs to realize how much potential the team has. Hanging in a game with a Top 20 team is no small feat. The players appear to realize that.

‘I think this weekend gave us confidence knowing we could play with the No.20 team,’ senior captain Sarah Morton said. ‘…We’re really playing tougher in practice and getting on each other to push ourselves, to make ourselves be able to beat those kinds of teams.’

The other lesson from those losses came from the Cleveland State game. The Orange jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Vikings won the match, taking the next three sets. LaMarche said the team has to understand that games are never over, no matter how big its lead is.

These two lessons should help Syracuse in the upcoming tournament. The team has done a lot of conditioning and agility drills in practice this week, working to get into peak shape for the fast-approaching Big East schedule.

Before that arrives, LaMarche said the opponents in the Rhode Island Tournament will be tough. One team in particular worries her. Syracuse easily handled New Hampshire, 3-0, in its first game this season, and the Orange will see them again Saturday.

‘I hope the girls still stay mentally focused for the New Hampshire match and not think that we have it in the bag because we already beat them,’ LaMarche said. ‘They’re not an easy team to beat.’

The players are prepared to avoid that trap in their final game.

‘Even though we’ve already seen New Hampshire, we’re not taking them any lighter than the other teams,’ Morton said.

Syracuse hasn’t prepared more for one team than another in practice this week. Instead, the Orange focused mainly on itself, working to reach the full potential that hung with a Top 20 team only a weekend ago.

Said Todd: ‘We’ve just been focusing on our own game: doing what we have to do on our side of the net.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on September 9, 2009 at 12:00 pm