Syracuse Tennis Goes 0 for 2 in Virginia Road Trip
By Philip Galati | @philipgalati4
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – Following a 4-3 loss at Virginia Tech on Friday, Syracuse Tennis couldn’t bounce back in Sunday’s dual against #9 UVA, being bested by the Hokies 6-1. This is the first two-game skid for the program this season, and it comes in their first two conference duals.
The Doubles point was very nearly a shutout across all three courts. Sophomores Viktoriya Kanapatskaya and ines Fonte boasted a 5-1 record on Doubles #3 coming into Charlottesville. They faced off against UVA’s Natasha Subhash and Sara Ziodato, familiar foes for Kanapatskaya. She bested that pair alongside former SU tennis star Natalie Novotna on the #2 Court by a 7-3 tiebreak last year. Last weekend, however, the Hokies had other plans, and won with a 6-0 shutout.
The Orange were also shutout on Court #2, as Polina Kozyreva and Miyuka Kimoto failed to win a game against Sofia Munera and Amber O’Dell. With the doubles point decided, the third and final doubles match on Court #1 was called off while Shiori Ito and Sonya Trescheva were down 4-2. Sunday’s bad start was just the second time in 9 duals this season the Orange failed to win the doubles point.
In the singles state, Viktoriya Kanapatskaya had an uphill battle against her first ranked opponent of the year. Virginia’s Emma Navarro sits at #28 in the singles rankings, and defended her spot with a 6-2, 6-0 dispatching of Kanapatskaya on Court #1.
Miyuka Kimoto had an even tougher battle on Court #2. The freshman squared off against the #15 ranked singles player in the nation in Natasha Subhash. Kimoto fell 6-3, 6-1.
On singles Court #4, a new face had her spring season debut for the Orange. Zeynep Erman underwent surgery over Christmas break this past year, and Head Coach Younes Limam put her on the court for the first time on Feb. 13 as a doubles partner with Viktoriya Kanapatskaya against Niagara. In that match, however, Kanaptaskaya did a large part of the heavy lifting, and with no teammate on Singles Court #4 in Virginia, Erman could only win one game in a 6-1, 6-0 loss to Amber O’Dell.
Ines Fonte lost 6-2, 6-1 in her singles match, marking her third straight defeat on Singles Court #6. On Court #5, Shiori Ito couldn’t get past the Hokies’ Sara Ziodato, 6-2, 6-2. But the Orange did manage to get one point out of the afternoon, though it wasn’t much cause for celebration. It was senior Polina Kozyreva who helped the Orange avoid getting blanked. She lost her first set 7-6 (7-5) but was leading in her second 1-0 when the match was stopped. UVA’s Sofia Munera retired, leaving one point on the scoreboard for the Orange.
After two road games in Virginia to open ACC play, SU returns to Drumlins Tennis center for two home duals, beginning with Georgia Tech on Friday. Follow along @CitrusTVSports on Twitter from 3 pm onwards for live tweets from the dual.
