When freshman Dana Valelly checked in for Syracuse against Hofstra, her team needed her to make an impact. Head coach Leonid Yelin, watching his team march toward its worst start since 1987, tried to infuse some life into his team.

Valelly and fellow freshman Mackenzie Weaver played more and more in the second and third sets after coming off the bench. But the changes didn’t work. The Orange (0-5) fell once again in straight sets, this time to Hofstra (6-2), on Friday afternoon in the Women’s Building. SU hasn’t won a set since Aug. 28.

Without any seniors and only three juniors, Syracuse is in flux. That allowed Valelly to get a chance. On Sept. 2, she had one of her best games since joining the Orange, amounting a kill, 10 assists and six digs. In the match against Hofstra, Valelly’s number was called again. As the mental errors grew abundant, Yelin began to feature Valelly frequently.

Sabrina Koenig | Staff Photographer

After entering the game for just a point in the first set, Valelly walked off the court toward fellow freshman Aliah Bowllan, and smiled.

“Anything I can do to contribute to help the team,” said Valelly. “Like coach said, there are no small roles so if it’s just serving and going in and trying to get that ace that’s what I try to do.”

When a team is struggling like SU is, it’s common for a coach to give other players opportunities to kick start a comeback. But Hofstra’s hitters dominated the game and took advantage of the spaces left open by the Orange.

In the second set, Valelly failed to dig a kill. As she hung her head low in disappointment, the usually stoic Yelin voiced his dissatisfaction and threw his hands up on the sidelines. She picked herself up off the court, walked to the sideline and was subbed off.

“In defense, we were struggling today,” Yelin said. “… That’s right away huge disadvantage.”

Still searching for its first win of the season, Syracuse went to Valelly to step up on Friday. But just like the starters who played before her, she was unsuccessful.

“We have to keep working,” Yelin said. “We just need some wins. We are not going to quit. We are not going to give up.”

Published on September 9, 2016 at 7:25 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez