Senior outside hitter Kacie MacTavish was struggling through the first set of the Syracuse volleyball team’s match against Cornell on Wednesday night. The usually consistent Orange co-captain sent a number of spikes out of bounds or directly at the Big Red defense. The team needed a spark, and it came in the form of middle blocker Hayley Todd.

Todd replaced MacTavish at outside hitter for much of the last two sets. After the switch, Todd jumpstarted the struggling Orange, pushing the team to a 3-0 win over Cornell at Manley Field House. Todd led the team with 10 kills and had a .412 attack percentage from a position she started playing for SU less than a week ago.

‘Hayley, this last weekend, played outside and did well so we thought we’d give her another shot on the outside,’ assistant coach Carol LaMarche said. ‘She got some good kills so we left her in there.’

The Orange had trouble early against the Big Red, committing a lot of errors and not taking the lead until late in the first set. After winning that set, 25-20, Todd made sure the Orange did not fall behind in the second. She thumped three powerful kills to the hardwood floor to boost Syracuse to an early lead.

In the middle of the set, she told freshman setter Laura Homann where she wanted the ball as Cornell prepared to serve. Sure enough, Homann took the pass off the serve and laid it up for Todd. She finished it off and gave the Orange an 11-point advantage.

Cornell hung with the Orange at the start of the third set until a back-to-back kill and block by Todd propelled Syracuse to a big lead. The team did not look back and won the set, sealing the SU victory.

Todd made her impression in the Southern Methodist Tournament last weekend. After seeing the middle blocker make plays from the outside in Syracuse’s game against William & Mary on Friday, the coaches realized she needed to be on the court. She got more reps at outside hitter throughout the tournament, and LaMarche said her performance gave the coaches confidence to play Todd on the outside again against Cornell.

Todd said that the move to outside hitter allows her to take advantage of her height, even more than playing in the middle. The Orange’s other outside hitters are a couple inches shorter than Todd. That slight difference stood out Wednesday night when the junior skied for a kill. She contacted the ball at a higher point and got it down faster than Cornell could get to it.

The switch helped on the defensive side of the ball nearly as much as on offense. By switching Todd to outside hitter, it put her 6-foot-1 frame next to 6-foot-1 senior Sarah Morton. Morton already leads the nation in blocks, and with Todd at her side, Cornell couldn’t find anywhere to go.

‘It’s a big block,’ Morton said of the Orange’s new-look formation. ‘It’s nice because when I’m late, I know Hayley’s going to be there.’

Though Todd only registered one block Wednesday, she altered plenty of shots. Cornell tried to avoid Todd’s many times throughout the night and ended up hitting right into Morton’s outstretched arms.

Moving Todd to outside blocker takes her out of Morton’s shadow and creates an even bigger one behind the duo on the court. Playing behind Morton has taught Todd to make the most of the opportunities she gets. Now, those opportunities might begin to pile up.

‘She’s prepared for every ball,’ Morton said. ‘She wants every ball and she does a great job at getting kills when our team needs her to. She’s doing a great job stepping up and being the number one killer like she did today.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on September 23, 2009 at 12:00 pm