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Syracuse took the court against No. 15 Virginia on Sunday at Drumlins Tennis Center. The Orange dominated doubles play but struggled to contain Virginia’s strength in singles play. Despite Syracuse (4-4, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) dropping the day’s match to the Cavaliers (6-2, 2-1), 4-3, freshman Viktoriya Kanapatskaya shined, upsetting the 11th-ranked Natasha Subhash in an electric singles match.

Syracuse’s No. 1 doubles duo Sofya Treshcheva and Polina Kozyreva stepped on to Court 1 to face Virginia’s Rosie Johanson and Emma Navarro. Syracuse jumped out to a 6-5 lead before returning a ball the Cavaliers couldn’t quite reach to secure the 7-5 victory.

Over on Court 2, Syracuse’s pair composed of Natalie Novotna and Kanapatskaya. The pair played short and had issues returning the ball in long play. But Syracuse made enough changes to its style of play to carry a victory. The pair was narrowly beating Virginia, 7-6, when the match was stopped after victories in both match one and two secured Syracuse a sweep of doubles play.

“I’m very pleased with how we competed in the doubles. We took it from them in the beginning,” head coach Younes Limam said.

Following doubles play, Guzal Yusupova and Miranda Ramirez prepared to face No. 15 Virginia in singles play. Virginia took the first four singles matches – a lead they would carry to victory over Syracuse.

The No. 1 and No. 3 singles matches led to tie breakers. In the No. 1 tie-breaking match, Virginia’s Emma Navarro defeated Yusupova 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. The Cavaliers’ Sofia Munera dominated Ramirez in tie-breaking play, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, to capture two of Virginia’s four singles points.

“We just came up a little bit short (today),” Limam said.

The Orange were slow to attack in both doubles and singles today. Virginia competed with more aggressive and calculated hits, while Syracuse merely aimed to get the ball over the net.

By the time singles matches began, Syracuse was already fatigued. On several courts, its players remained almost static, only shuffling a few feet to return balls while the Cavaliers stayed on their toes, rapidly moving toward the ball. The Orange failed to establish momentum in the beginning points of singles matches, which led to their defeat on the singles scoreboard.

But Kanapatskaya played differently. Facing off against Subhash, Kanapatskaya beat her in two sets, 7-5, 6-4, to secure Kanapatskaya’s fifth-straight win of the season, and she remains undefeated.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the ones that battled,” Limam said.

Syracuse freshman Ines Fonte was still fighting in her singles match for almost an hour after her teammates had finished their matches. She won the first set, but the second slipped through her fingers in a tie-breaking point. Fonte came back in the third set to finish out the match with a win (6-2, 6-7, 7-6).

The only two freshmen on the team brought the Orange back from a blowout in singles. The Orange have next week off, but it will revisit lineups, Limam said, something it has not shied away from this season.

The Orange have a week before taking on Miami at home on Mar. 12.

Published on February 28, 2021 at 9:09 pm

Contact Ella: enplowma@syr.edu