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364 days ago, Syracuse was 6-0 as it prepared to take on Boston College in its first Atlantic Coast Conference game of the season. The Orange escaped Chestnut Hill in a tight 4-3 contest. Once again, the two faced off against each other in the conference opener and just like last year Syracuse was tested, but came out on top with a win.

Syracuse (5-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) avoided its second straight loss and defeated Boston College (3-3, 0-1 ACC) 5-2 in its first ACC match of the season. SU relied on strong singles, winning five out of six matches to secure a victory.

Both teams struggled in conference play last year with just four wins each, so the two entered Saturday’s contest trying to get off on the right foot in the ACC.

BC had the better start of the two teams as the Eagles won each of their doubles matches 6-4 and 6-3, respectively. Marice Aguiar and Tola Glowacka jumped out to a 4-1 lead before SU’s Shiori Ito and Viktoriya Kanapatskaya battled back to make the score 4-3. Soon thereafter though, BC took the set 6-4.

Miyuka Kimoto and Emily Elde did not fare much better for the Orange. The duo lost to BC’s Seren Agar and Stephanie Sanchez 6-3.

The final doubles match ended inconclusively, finishing due to the doubles point already being won by Boston College. Ines Fonte and Polina Kozyreva had a 5-4 lead before the match was called off.

“It’s the first time in the season that we lost the doubles point, but (I’m) super proud and happy of how we showed up in the singles,” Syracuse head coach Younes Limam said postgame.

Limam had reason to be happy as the Orange took over in their singles matchups, losing just one point in a dominant performance. Kimoto was the lone singles loss on the day for SU falling to Aguiar. In both doubles and singles, Aguiar performed well as BC’s No. 1 singles player, beating Kimoto in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0.

In the No. 2 spot for SU was Kanapatskaya in a rematch of her doubles opponent, Glowacka. Kanapatskaya, who was frustrated during her doubles game, found her composure in singles, sweeping both sets against Glowacka, 6-0, 6-0.

“I just wanted to take it one point at a time, and just be calm and confident… just start over; don’t think about doubles,” Kanapatskaya said.

Kozyreva occupied the No. 3 role, playing a tightly contested match against BC’s Natalie Eordekian. The grad student won her first set 7-5. However, Kozyreva took over, securing a 6-3 second set victory and a contest-winning singles point for the Orange.

Fonte and Ito also played well in their singles matches. Fonte won both her sets 6-3, and Ito won hers 6-4, 6-1. The two never looked in danger against Boston College, taking control of the sets early and not relinquishing their leads.

Anastasia Sysoeva was the only Syracuse singles player whose match went to three sets. She faced off against Muskan Mahajan, winning the first set 6-4. Mahajan rallied back though, forcing a third set after a 7-5 win. By this point, the other matches had ended and all eyes were on Mahajan and Sysoeva, who would play in a tiebreaker third set. The SU player took the tiebreaker 4-2 and left Mahajan in a pile of tears as she walked off the court.

The win provides Syracuse with a strong start to conference play, something that Limam wanted to emphasize.

“The ACC is one of, if not the best conference in women’s tennis, so we’re excited for the challenge and it’s huge for their confidence,” Limam said. “Our goal is to be better every day… we’re playing better tennis… so I’m excited to see what’s ahead.”

Published on February 17, 2024 at 4:12 pm