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Head coach Younes Limam yelled “Stay up, stay ready,” to his No. 3 doubles pair, Miranda Ramirez and Ines Fonte, after Virginia Tech’s Annie Clark tipped a shot just past them.

Ramirez and Fonte started off strong with a 2-0 lead, communicating with each other and calling “you” and “yours” as the balls sailed past. But after a series of hits out of bounds and into the net, Virginia Tech started climbing back. Limam kept encouraging the pair, but they soon found themselves tied 4-4 with the Hokies.

SU’s top two doubles pairs sealed their victories before Ramirez and Fonte had the chance to come back.

After switching up doubles pairs for most of the season, Limam kept the same pairs from last week’s victory against Notre Dame. Syracuse (4-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) took the doubles point on Friday and won three of its singles matches in a 4-3 win over Virginia Tech (2-5, 0-2)

“Ideally, we should have the same teams playing more.” Limam said. “The more you play together, the more you know and understand the tendencies of your partner.”

No. 2 doubles pair Polina Kozyreva and Sofya Treshcheva easily dominated Virginia Tech’s Rita Pinto and Tamara Barad Itzhaki in a 6-1 victory. Coming off of a loss last weekend against Notre Dame, the pair were in sync and showed enthusiasm on the court, cheering on each other with shouts of encouragement. The pair transitioned between front and back easily, building off the chemistry of playing as a pair in all but one match this season.

Assistant coach Len Lopoo demonstrated forehand motions from the sideline to the No. 1 doubles, graduate student Natalie Novotna and freshman Viktoriya Kanapatskaya. The pair has played all but one doubles match with each other this season and has arguably been SU’s strongest pair. The two showed their typical chemistry as they beat the Hokie’s Nika Kozar and Elizabet Danailova 6-3.

Fonte and Ramirez played together for just the third time on Friday, and their lack of chemistry showed at times.

“We’re just trying to find the best combinations.” Limam said. “Ines and Miranda played their last match together against Notre Dame, and we felt they could build on that momentum.”

In singles, the Orange won three of six matches. Treshcheva finished first and earned the second point for SU, dominating Annie Clark 6-1 in both sets. Kozyreva came in shortly after with 6-2 and 6-0 wins. Kanapatskaya sealed the win with the 4th point for Syracuse, winning 6-1 and 6-3. Fonte lost 2-6 and 0-6 to the Hokie’s Nina Sorkin. Ramirez fell to Pinto 5-7 and 4-6, marking her third straight singles loss this season.

All eyes were on court 4, as Novotna went to 3 sets with VT’s Itzhaki but lost 13-11 after a series of long rallies.

Syracuse looks to continue its home win streak on Sunday, when the Orange welcomes Virginia to Drumlins Country Club at 11 a.m.

Published on February 26, 2021 at 7:46 pm

Contact Gillian: gwhahn@syr.edu