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shlee Volpe got the ball and dashed to the goal. As two defenders approached her, Volpe jumped and spun around before ripping the ball behind her back at the net. After 11 months of recovering from an ACL tear, she was back.

The 2021 summer season was almost over, but Volpe was determined to play again. With limited options to join a team, Ronnie Davis, Volpe’s coach and the director of Monster Elite Lacrosse, allowed her to play on the 2022 America Select Upstate team. In July, Volpe traveled to Delaware, helping the Upstate team win the America Select tournament.

Volpe, a five-star freshman and the No. 21-ranked recruit according to Inside Lacrosse, suffered two ACL injuries within a 21-month span, sidelining her for half of her high school career. Instead of being in the spotlight, Volpe spent much of her career on the sidelines. But when she was playing, she was “one of the best players in the country,” an America Select coach told Volpe’s Monster Elite coach David Nieman. Now in her first year with Syracuse, Volpe looks to make her mark in a veteran-laden SU attack.

After her play on the Upstate team, Volpe had to wait until 2022 for Corning-Painted Post High School’s (NY) spring season to play again. The attacker had limited opportunities to show her talents to college recruiters.

“She would have gotten 100 phone calls on September 1,” Davis said. “If she never hurt herself, she would have been probably the top recruit in the country.”

She did get a call from Syracuse, however, who gave her an offer that day. She committed on Oct. 1.

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In 2022, Volpe led a high-powered Corning offense with 54 goals and 33 assists. Volpe led the Hawks to a Section 4 Class A title where she scored four goals in a 13-10 victory. But about a month after the championship, Volpe suffered her second ACL tear during a club game, which kept her out her senior season.

While injured, Volpe shifted her focus to her teammates. She drove younger players over an hour to club practices, Davis said. Volpe also took up a coaching role to mentor younger players.

“She sort of had like a bird’s eye view on the field, she could really see what was unfolding,” said Katie Grottenthaler, Volpe’s Corning and Monster Elite teammate. “She was always giving advice to the younger girls … She was always very supportive, and always pulling out things that can make us better.”

“Coach Volpe,” as Kevin Scanlon, head coach at Corning, called her, never missed a game or practice, Nieman said. With her support, the Hawks repeated as 2023 Section 4 Class A Champions.

Volpe shifted the focus back to herself once she got healthy. After being cleared to return in June, she started preparing for Syracuse.

Volpe participated in the Three Lax competition hosted by Davis and Monster Elite. There, Volpe played with other collegiate players in small 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 scrimmages. Volpe said she also practiced with the 2024 and 2025 Monster Elite teams to test out her knee.

“Coming back it’s (important to) just get a feel for that dodge again, that you always have done like your whole life,” Volpe said.

Volpe also spent parts of the summer training at Kinsella Park in Painted Post, New York. Volpe joined Grottenthaler and Jenna DiNardo, a teammate at Corning and Monster Elite, to sharpen their stick skills along with dodging and footwork.

“(Volpe) is a dodging beast,” Nieman said. “If you don’t put a second girl on her, she’s going to go by whoever’s on her. Her body control is amazing.”

Volpe worked on her shooting, especially from close to the crease. Throughout her career, Volpe’s electric, highlight reel shots involving 360-spin moves and jumps have been a common part of her game. She credits her experience in gymnastics and cheer at a younger age.

“I’m always jumping up and down on the field, doing spin moves, doing whatever, jumping, hopping and everything like that you can think of,” Volpe said. “Those plays when I do that. I’m just like, ‘That reminds me of me as a little kid.’”

With Monster Elite, Davis recommended Volpe to use a smaller lacrosse stick. Since making the change, it’s allowed her to handle the stick better. At Syracuse, she’s planning to use a 40-inch stick, Volpe said.

Although Volpe does most things right-handed, she plays lacrosse primarily with her left hand, a rare asset to collegiate teams. Being a lefty gives her more opportunities and allows her to find cutting teammates easier, Volpe said. Volpe is also skilled at throwing behind-the-back passes and shots. Her knack for behind-the-back plays separated Volpe from other high school players, Grottenthaler said.

“When you saw those amazing plays, when she put it all on the line, it was when the game asked for it,” Scanlon said. “It was not just to show off. That’s what made her special.”

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In July, Volpe was selected for the New Balance Girls Senior All-America Game — her first game back since her second ACL tear. She played alongside fellow 2023 Syracuse recruits Kaci Benoit and Alexa Vogelman in the game. After dealing with her injuries, to be on the field with the country’s best players, the game was “the culmination of her scholastic career,” Nieman said.

When Volpe arrived in Syracuse last fall, she established on-field connections with SU’s attackers, singling out Emma Ward as someone who helped her. She gave Volpe advice about playing from behind the goal and adjusting to the pace of the college game.

“(Ward) would always be behind the goal, teaching me about stuff that I need to work on, stuff that I need to do during this play,” Volpe said. “(We talk about) what happened in that play and what I should have done better.”

The injuries tested Volpe’s fortitude, and coaches made sure she was doing well throughout her recovery. Volpe’s positive mindset powered her back to the field, Nieman said.

Grottenthaler, her teammate for many years at Monster Elite and Corning, has seen Volpe’s recovery first-hand. She said the injuries have not kept Volpe from improving.

“I want to be the ACC Freshman of the Year,” Volpe said. “I want to show everyone what I’m actually made of because no one has really seen me play throughout my whole high school career.”

Photograph courtesy of Syracuse Athletics

Published on January 31, 2024 at 11:01 pm

Contact Timmy at: tswilcox@syr.edu | @TimmyWilcox32