Cherlin Antonio Continues to Shine for Syracuse Volleyball

By: Rahill Jaiswal | @RahillJaiswal

It’s no secret that Syracuse Volleyball has had a rough season. The Orange have struggled in ACC play and ranks bottom in the conference in almost every stat category. However, even in tough seasons like this, you can still find diamonds amongst the rough. For SU its diamond has been the play of Cherlin Antonio. Despite Syracuse’s offensive struggles. The Junior is putting together quite the season. Antonio is averaging around 3 kills and points per set. Which leads Syracuse by a comfortable margin.

“The transition from the level she played prior to Syracuse is different. For her to compete at this level in non and in conference it takes constant work. We were working with her, she’s working on her game. She can be very good.”

What makes this season more impressive is that Antonio is the only true attacker left on SU’s roster. This not only puts more pressure on her to carry the load offensively. But Teams can make a concerted effort to take her out of matches.

“She’s a junior but she is a junior college transfer playing in the ACC from a different country”. There’s a lot of adjustments she’s making. “On top of that because of the injury we have. We ask her to be the power hitter and the soul attacker to produce high numbers while being a rotation player. Not a lot of players can do that match in a match out.”

However, despite all the outside factors. Antonio has risen to the challenge. The transfer was the first player on Syracuses’s roster who managed to post triple-digit kills and points this season. After a season like this. It is safe to say that Antonio has established herself. As one of the heartbeats of Syracuse Volleyball.  

Rahill Jaiswal Citrus TV