Syracuse head coach Leonid Yelin noticed something was different as he watched Jalissa Trotter in high school and club volleyball. Trotter was playing almost every position on the court, and excelled in each spot.

He wasn’t really sure what he was getting when recruiting Trotter.

“All of a sudden, we came to watch her and she was playing defense, a libero, even a hitter,” Yelin said, “And we saw how good she was doing on defense, and she was setting for them.”

The Texarkana, Texas native has made an immediate impact on an extremely young SU squad. The 5-foot-7 freshman has seen action in every game this season, amassing 84 assists and 61 digs in the 10-game span for the Orange (9-2). Her versatility has proven to be her most valuable asset.

Trotter comes from a volleyball family. Her mother played collegiate volleyball at Henderson State University, and SU head coach Leonid Yelin thinks that Trotter’s talent and athleticism came directly from her.

“She has always been a hardworking lady, and she’s done whatever she could to give me the best support,” Trotter said of her mother. “That has pushed me to become the person I am today.”

As one of the more versatile athletes on the Orange, Trotter has been able to lean on her past experiences with four other sports to help her in volleyball.

Trotter says basketball helped her jumping skills, cross country and track helped her endurance and quickness, and softball helped her strength.

“They all kind of work well together, and at the end of the day it all worked out and helped me out,” Trotter said.

Trotter’s versatility has helped helped ease her transition into SU’s core.

Yelin decided to play the freshman as a setter and a defensive specialist, and she’s exceeded the tempered expectations SU’s head coach had for the freshman.

“Serving wise, we did not think of her as a setter,” Yelin said. “But that’s a great bonus for us.”

In her first collegiate game against Rhode Island, Trotter tallied 14 assists for the Orange. Against Auburn in game four, she put 14 digs on the board, helping the Orange to a 3-2 victory over the Tigers.

The smaller veteran contingency on SU has taken Trotter and fellow underclassmen beneath their wing to acclimate them to the higher level of competition.

“It’s been really great, especially with my teammates,” Trotter said. “The transition wasn’t nearly as bad as I originally thought it would be because I’ve had so much help.”

Senior Monika Salkute said that Trotter’s a great all-around player, and her amenability helps the team in multiple facets.

“She’s great to have on the court,” Salkute said. “You can really depend on her, even though she’s a freshman, we all have a lot of confidence in her.”

While Trotter has begun her collegiate career with a string of quality matches, Yelin said she could still work on being more verbal with her teammates on the court.

“I think she’s a little bit too quiet,” Yelin said. “She’s competitive. I can see this by the way she does things.”

Salkute sees the value in Trotter settling down into one position so she has less to focus on as a freshman. But her versatility has served her well early in her career for Syracuse, a valuable trait that could find her in several positions over the next three seasons.

“I could see in the next four years how she’s going to be a very important player on the team,” said Salkute.

Published on September 24, 2015 at 10:29 pm

Contact Matt: mjfel100@syr.edu