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In the penultimate game of the regular season for Syracuse, breaking its six-game losing streak would mean succeeding in its doubles matches. And though SU looked to be competitive early in the matches, it wasn’t able to close.

Syracuse tennis fell below the .500 mark for the first time this season as it lost to Notre Dame Friday afternoon. The Orange (9-10, 3-9 Atlantic Coast Conference) lost 5-2 to the Fighting Irish (14-7, 5-5 ACC). Now just 3-9 in conference play, SU sits on the bubble of a postseason appearance.

“Credit to Notre Dame. I thought we played some quality doubles today, and we were so close to getting the doubles point (but) I’m proud of the team for going back and fighting all the way to the end,” Limam said.

At first, SU looked comfortable in its doubles contests. Viktoriya Kanapatskaya and Miyuka Kimoto faced off against Page Freeman and Julia Andreach, the latter being the No. 30 player in the country. The SU duo took control of the match, shutting down Andreach. Kimoto used her speed and strength while Kanapatskaya used her technique. Combined, the two won their set 6-3.

The other doubles matches were not as favorable for SU. Constance Levivier and Anastasia Sysoeva battled against Notre Dame’s Carrie Beckman and Akari Matsuno. At first, it looked as if the Fighting Irish would run away with the set, jumping out to an early lead. But strong play from Levivier near the net propelled the Orange back into the contest. Soon after, Beckman and Matsuno regained control and won 6-4.

The doubles point then rested in the hands of Emilie Elde and Shiori Ito. The two faced Nibi Ghosh and Yashna Yellayi. The back-and-forth affair could have gone either way and with all eyes on them, Elde and Ito forced a tiebreaker match. From there, Ghosh and Yellayi pulled away, winning the set and the doubles point for Notre Dame.

As the singles match wore on, it was clear that losing the doubles point had hurt SU. Kimoto, Elde and Ines Fonte all lost their singles matches in straight sets while Kanapatskaya forced a tiebreaker set, only to lose to ND’s Bojana Pozder.

It was Ito and Sysoeva who won the lone points of the day for SU.

“It felt good (bringing) the first point to the team… so I helped encourage the girls,” Sysoeva said.

With the loss, Syracuse has not won a doubles point since its 6-1 win over Buffalo on March 7.

The Orange’s failure to capture the first point has resulted in a loss in all but one of Syracuse’s last 10 matches. In 19 matches, SU has won the doubles point just seven times, and only three times after four straight wins to begin the season.

SU head coach Younes Limam said after the matches that losing the doubles point hurt the team, but was not an excuse for their incomplete performance.

“Obviously doubles is important, but at the same time, it’s 17% of the total match… you want to get that doubles point, but at the end of the day, there are still six points that you can grab,” Limam said.

Published on April 5, 2024 at 7:36 pm