Syracuse tennis tops Top 25 Miami team 5-2

Syracuse tennis tops Top 25 Miami team 5-2

The Orange tallies ninth straight win to open 2023 season.
Published: February 26, 2023
Syracuse tennis defeated Miami 5-2 at the Drumlins Country Club on Feb. 26, 2023.
Syracuse tennis defeats Miami 5-2 at the Drumlins Country Club on Feb. 26, 2023.

Syracuse tennis finished their back-to-back homestand at Drumlin Country Club on Sunday, winning another upset against No. 23 Miami by 5-2.

The Orange, No. 53 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, remains invincible, clutching a nine-game winning streak since opening the season. 

Syracuse previously lost the doubles point after two defeats. Zeynep Erman paired with Shiori Ito dropped 2-6 against Miami’s Daevenia Achong and Maya Tahan. The Orange duo couldn’t adapt to the aggressive returns from the opponent, who contributed a couple of unexpected volleys and fast strikes in front of the net.

Similarly, Ines Fonte and Viktoriya Kanapatskaya were flushed by Miami’s Alexa Noel and Isabella Pfennig 3-6. Fonte and Kanapatskaya tried to break Miami’s pace, but the former showed their athleticism, striking intense returns and good serves. Pfennig was active, giving unexpected volleys and smashes in front of the net and sealing the doubles win for Miami.

Syracuse forfeited the last doubles game and jumped to singles.

In singles, Ito successfully extended her singles hotstreak to seven, frustrating Mia Mack 6-4 and 6-3. Ito moved back-and-forth and always got to the right spot to return. With Mack’s unforced errors and losses in rallies, Ito secured the first point for Syracuse.

“(Shiori Ito’s) been a big part of our success this season so far,” SU head coach Younes Limam said. “She’s playing with a lot of confidence. Carrying that confidence from Friday to today was impressive, and she’s playing at a high level.”

Kanapatskaya finished her business with the same ease, besting Pfennig by 6-3 and 6-2. Although Kanapatskaya failed the previous sets, she took the game back by giving high-speed returns and dominating the game, helping Syracuse take the lead for the first time.

Although Miyuka Kimoto showed her consistency and desire to run the game back, she couldn’t gain a victory to cease her losing streak in recent games and lost by 2-6, 6-3, and 0-6. As a result, the Hurricanes tied the game.

Erman was the No. 1 singles player against Noel, a Top 10 singles player in the nation. Despite Noel’s greater ranking and competitiveness, Erman surprisingly set the tone earlier and kept attacking in the rallies. She was powerful in every return and made Noel uncomfortable to play, committing many unforced errors.

After getting the first set by resistant defense, Erman enhanced her state, transitioning herself to offensive tennis and breaking Noel’s pace. Erman controlled the second set when she pushed herself to the game round, winning the most exciting singles of the day by 6-3.

“She did a great job in setting her shots the way she wanted and playing with her big forehand and big serve,” Limam said. “Beating the No. 8 (player) in the country was very impressive.”

Syracuse increased their lead after Fonte narrowly beat Maya Tahan in her game set. Fonte terminated the first set by 6-1. Though Tahan attempted to drag Fonte to the third set, Fonte forced the tiebreaker and didn’t allow her to score anymore in it, securing a determinant point for Syracuse to lock up their third ACC victory today.

SU’s Polina Kozyreva fell in the first set 4-6 against Audrey Boch-Collins. Kozyreva started to play passively and eventually reversed in the second, bringing the final suspense into the third set. She continued her persistence and eventually reached the win-by-two benchmark, downing Boch-Collins 18-16. 

Syracuse will hold their next home game Friday against No. 20 Virginia at 3 p.m.