The Syracuse volleyball team’s match against Notre Dame was all but over by the time Annabelle Pellerin saw her first action of the day.

Trailing 10 in the fourth set, the senior outside hitter showed the Orange coaching staff why it should have considered putting her on the court earlier in the game. Pellerin went on a seven-kill rampage in the next 10 points that cut the Fighting Irish lead to just four.

But for Syracuse, Pellerin’s play came too late in the game. The Orange lost the fourth set, 25-19, and the match, 3-1, tarnishing its undefeated home record this season. Pellerin, who has made major contributions throughout the season, did not step on the court until the game had been decided. Her play could have helped the Orange’s struggling offense earlier in the game.

Assistant coach Carol LaMarche said the coaches made a mistake by putting her in so late.

‘We definitely should have put her in earlier,’ she said. ‘That was a late move and, we regret not putting her in earlier. To her credit, she came off the bench, and she was awesome. She was definitely the momentum that we needed to kind of get back into the match, and I hope she can bring that again.’

Pellerin’s absence in the starting lineup did not come as a surprise. The coaching staff has consistently rotated players around to different positions. It tends to base the starting lineup on how well players do in warmups and then make changes once games get started.

LaMarche said sophomore Erin Little looked good in pregame, so SU slid her into the starting lineup at outside hitter for Pellerin. Junior Hayley Todd manned the other outside hitter position, and senior captain Sarah Morton took over middle blocking duties to start the game.

That lineup, with a steady rotation of freshman Samantha Hinz, came out strong defensively to start the game. Eight blocks powered the Orange to a 25-15 first set win.

But in the second set, mistakes by that front line cost Syracuse a shot at a 2-0 lead. With the Orange trailing, 22-21, Todd hit into a Notre Dame block. Hinz and Little then sent attacks out of bounds, giving the Fighting Irish the set and the momentum.

The Orange offense struggled through those first two sets, compiling a .103 hitting percentage. Head coach Jing Pu still did not find reason to put Pellerin, who is fourth on the team with 174 kills, into the game.

When he did finally decide to see if the senior could give the team a spark, it was too late.

‘When he told me to get ready, I wasn’t sure he was actually going to put me in but whatever,’ Pellerin said. ‘I just warmed up a little bit, and then went in there. There’s nothing to lose at that point. Your team is already down, so I just went for it.’

Pellerin delivered a .667 hitting percentage, taking advantage of nearly every opportunity she got. Little led the team with 11 kills but had a .179 hitting percentage. Todd ended the day with nine hitting errors and six kills. Hinz finished with five kills.

Morton said Pellerin impressed her by coming in so late and still doing well.

‘It showed great senior leadership,’ she added. ‘She stepped it up. She came in and did her job. She had nothing to lose, and she did great.’

LaMarche has described the Syracuse seniors as ‘the core of the team’ throughout the season. But Pellerin’s role in recent games appears to be diminishing, despite some strong play.

In the Orange’s 3-0 win on Friday against DePaul, she tallied five kills in the first set. She did not play the second set and was used sparingly in the third. She ended the game with a .750 hitting percentage, but that still did not earn her a bigger role in Sunday’s game against Notre Dame.

Pellerin said she would like to play more, but added that in the end, the coaches make the decisions about that. She hopes her performance on Sunday warrants more playing time in the Orange’s final two regular season games.

‘My fingers are crossed but whatever,’ she said. ‘People do their jobs, and everyone tries their best so I can’t really decide for the coaches.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on November 8, 2009 at 12:00 pm