Baby helps lead Barry University volleyball back to greatness
A two-year-old child – Rachel – is a big reason why Barry University’s women’s volleyball team is three wins away from a national championship.
Coach Leonid Yelin, who led the Barry Buccaneers to their volleyball national title in 1995, returned to the school in March. Yelin, 72, said he came back because he and his wife, Yelena, wanted to be near their daughter Eleanora and her child, Rachel.
“Miami is my home,” said Yelin, a native of Uzbekistan. “When I was a younger coach, I didn’t spend as much time with our kids (Eleanora and Boris).
“But now, with our first grand-baby, we didn’t want to miss this one.”
Give Rachel the first of what will likely be many assists.
Because of her pull with Grandpa Leonid, Barry has gone from a losing record last season (13-14) to a 28-5 mark and a berth in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals in Seattle.
The Bucs will play Missouri-St. Louis (24-6), which had never been this far in the tournament.
Barry, meanwhile, has won three national titles: the one in ’95 with Yelin and then two more after he departed (2001 and 2004).
Indeed, while Yelin was gone from Barry, he spent 25 years as a Division I head coach. In 15 years at Louisville, for example, Yelin led the Cardinals to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances. At Syracuse, he led the Orange to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018.
However, after leading Syracuse to a 17-13 record, Yelin decided to return to Miami.
But he didn’t make the trip alone.
Diana Akopova, a 6-1 sophomore outside hitter from Russia, had been a backup at Syracuse under Yelin. But when he bolted for Barry, Akopova followed.
On Thursday, Akopova was named the Division II National Player of the Year. She is the first Barry volleyball player ever to earn that honor.
“She’s a powerful player with arm,” Yelin said of Akopova, who leads the nation in kills despite playing with an ankle injury the past couple of weeks. “She was behind two great players at Syracuse.”
Barry’s other stars are 5-10 setter Marija Borcic, a graduate-transfer from Coastal Carolina; and 5-9 senior outside hitter Djuly Schmorantz, a native of Brazil.
“Djuly was in the transfer portal when we got here in March,” Yelin said. “She was going to Nova Southeastern University, but we convinced her to stay, and I’m glad she listened. She is our team captain.”
Yelin also brought in freshman Christy Paul, a 6-5 middle blocker from Nigeria; and 6-3 sophomore Jeyhlen Thomas, who transferred in from Indian River.
Both of them are starters, and they are part of the amazing one-year turnaround that Yelin has helped create at Barry.
“It was kind of disaster,” Yelin said when asked what type of program he inherited. “The team had been like two months without a coach.
“When I got here, I told the team: ‘I don’t know you, but I’m happy to give you an opportunity.”
The result was Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year honors for Yelin, a national quarterfinal berth for Barry and the first assist for Baby Rachel.
THIS AND THAT
▪ Barry’s men’s soccer team (12-4-4) had its season ended on Thursday with a 1-0 loss to Colorado State-Pueblo (19-3-2) in an NCAA Tournament national semifinal. CS-Pueblo, making its first-ever trip to the national semifinals, scored on a header in the 90th minute..
▪ St. Thomas University’s men’s soccer team had its season end in the NAIA round of 10. The seventh-ranked Bobcats (11-2-5) lost 4-0 to Kentucky’s Lindsey Wilson College at the nationals neutral site in Decatur, Alabama.
▪ The Miami Hurricanes’ women’s volleyball season ended on Thursday with a 3-0 loss to Kansas (19-10) in a first-round NCAA Tournament game at Lincoln, Nebraska on Thursday. Miami finished its season with an 19-11 record.
This story was originally published December 1, 2022 at 8:00 AM.