Syracuse’s practice on Wednesday looked more like boot camp to Kelly Morrisroe’s team. Players ran suicides if a free ball hit the floor on their watch, and any hitting errors resulted in penalty laps.

The losing team from the scrimmage at the end of practice owed Morrisroe pushups, too.

‘We need to learn how to finish stronger,’ the SU interim head coach said. ‘And you do that by playing tired.’

Morrisroe hopes a change in her team’s training regimen will help SU shut out opponents. Bad losses to inferior opponents like Niagara, Georgetown, and West Virginia could haunt the Orange (17-9, 6-4 Big East) come tournament time. And to make matters worse, SU’s opponents this weekend — Louisville (17-7, 9-1) and Cincinnati (18-8, 8-2) — are anything but inferior. Syracuse plays at the Cardinals at 2 p.m. on Saturday, and travels from there to Cincinnati on a quick turnaround for a 2 p.m. match Sunday.

The Orange lost to Louisville and 2010 Big East champion Cincinnati in its final two matches of an end-of-season collapse last year and will be underdogs against both again this season. The Cardinals and Bearcats are the second and third place teams in the Big East, respectively.

SU, the Big East’s fifth place team, could use a win in at least one of the weekend matches to stay in the thick of a tight conference race. Syracuse and South Florida, the ninth place team in the Big East, are separated by one game. And only the top eight make the Big East tournament.

That means Syracuse needs to play mistake-free volleyball — something its not accustomed to — against two quality opponents this weekend to keep controlling its own destiny for the postseason.

‘We can’t be our own worst enemies,’ said middle blocker Sam Hinz. ‘We have to stay level throughout a whole match.’

SU can’t afford to give its opponents unearned points. Louisville and Cincinnati are both top-three Big East teams in hitting percentage, kills, and assists.

‘They’re really efficient on offense,’ outside hitter Noemie Lefebvre said. ‘They make you pay for a late rotation.’

Outside hitter Erin Little said if her team commits the same small mistakes that have plagued SU in spurts this season against Louisville and Cincinnati, the results won’t be good. 

So when an SU player makes a mistake in practice this week, she pays for it. Morrisroe’s new practice style makes winning a priority.

‘Now, if you’re on the losing team, you’re running,’ said Little. ‘It encourages that level of competition in us early in practice.’

The running hasn’t been the only change to practice. Different from former head coach Jing Pu, Morrisroe runs a shorter practice, but with more intense periods of drilling.

The fact-paced practices have helped the team better acclimate to a two-setter attack. Both junior Laura Homann and freshman Emily Betteridge have seen time at setter, and Morrisroe said the new pace at practice better suits a revamped SU attack.

Players are noticing a shift to specific game planning, too. When Pu was the coach, the team would focus more on its own attack and defense. But Morrisroe simulates upcoming opponents by scrimmaging her starters against a ‘scout team.’

‘We’ll have girls play the way Louisville or Cincinnati does,’ Morrisroe said. ‘It’s helpful for two reasons. The have to watch film of the opponent to play like them, so the scout team knows what’s coming. The starters benefit from playing against styles they’ll see in games, too.’

Morrisroe thinks her team is in for two close games. She said that her team could have the deepest bench in the Big East, and Morrisroe is willing to use that depth more than SU did when Pu was still head coach.

The more intense practices can only do so much, though. Morrisroe said the Cardinals and Bearcats both boast deep rosters, and SU can’t game plan to stop one opposing star player.

‘It’s not like last week (against Pittsburgh), when we knew we had a shot if we stopped (Pitt middle blocker) Kiesha Leggs,’ Morrisroe said. ‘These two teams are deep.’

nctoney@syr.edu

Published on November 2, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Nick: nctoney@syr.edu | @nicktoneytweets