Polina Shemanova’s return to form powers Syracuse past Virginia in straight sets

With the third set about to begin against Virginia, outside hitter and kill leader Polina Shemanova danced to the beat of the Syracuse marching band. The reigning ACC Freshman of the Year tried to stay loose and keep her mind clear.

On the second point of that set, the six-foot sophomore eyed up a pass from setter Elena Karakasi. Shemanova rose above the left side of the net and pelted a ball that split in between three diving Virginia backline players. When she landed, Shemanova pumped her fist in the air and embraced teammate Marina Markova.

Shemanova again received a pass on the left side from senior Aliah Bowllan on the ensuing point. As Virginia rotated two blockers over to Shemanova to try and block her, Shemanova tipped the ball over the Virginia middles and secured another kill.

“I played as usual,” Shemanova said. “You always have to do your best, today it worked.”

In Syracuse’s (5-8, 2-4 Atlantic Coast) straight-set win over Virginia (9-10, 1-5 ACC), Shemanova led the Orange with 19 kills, 16 digs and two aces. Shemanova kept her attacking errors down, as the outside hitter only committed four attacking errors, lower than her season average of six. Shemanova has been searching for consistency in her play after she’s had an up-and-down sophomore campaign following her breakout freshman one. Against Virginia, Shemanova was able to find that consistency by playing with a clear mind.

“Today, she started getting a couple shots back that we haven’t seen in a while,” Syracuse assistant coach Derryk Williams said. “Everytime she was in a situation that wasn’t the best, she made a smart shot that put them out of system or she got a kill out of it and that was really big for us.”

In the Orange’s last three games, Shemanova has struggled with attacking miscues. Against Pittsburgh, Duke and Wake Forest, Shemanova racked up nine, 11, and 12 errors in each match, respectively. Most of these errors came from Shemanova trying to force shots into double and triple teams.

But against UVA, Shemanova was freed up on multiple occasions. Usually opposing teams pin two blockers on the left side of the net to make attacking difficult for her. But solid play from right outside hitter Ella Saada, who recorded 11 kills, forced Virginia to rotate its blockers away from Shemanova. Combined with SU middles Abby Casiano and Markova, who Williams said kept opposing blockers honest and away from Shemanova. Karakasi’s savvy passing set up Shemanova with clear lanes to hit the ball.

This rotation allowed Shemanova to hit in more comfortable positions. In the first set, a fake spike from Markova in the middle froze the Cavaliers’ middle blockers. Shemanova came right behind her, and fired off a kill past a single blocker from Virginia. Even when Shemanova was doubled or tripled, she didn’t try to force a difficult shot that might lead to an attacking error.

“Today there were a lot of opportunities where she was only swinging into two hands,” Williams said. “We were in system a lot, and we were able to run her and make her life really easy on the pin.”

Shemanova found success serving as well. After recording a kill to make the score 9-5 in the third set, Shemanova’s next serve dipped toward the Virginia backline. Virginia’s libero Alexandra Spencer dove to try and dig the ball out, but it was out of reach, slicing the back right corner.

While head coach Leonid Yelin has been critical of Shemanova’s mentality heading into previous matches, he applauded his outside hitter for playing with a clear mind.

“When you’re going on the floor, you basically have to shut down and let your body and the knowledge and the skills to show up,” Yelin said. “As crazy as it sounds you’re really not thinking.”