A Weekend off for Syracuse Tennis Before a Familiar Foe Returns to Drumlins
By Josh Richardson | @joshrichy_04
Last season, right in the middle of its nine-match losing streak to end the season, Syracuse Tennis got two weeks off. It came at a time when SU desperately needed a break. It was a chance for the Orange to get away from tennis, from the competition, and from the losing.
When they returned to action, the results stayed the same. Syracuse was welcomed back to the courts with a 4-2 loss to #27 Notre Dame. The season the concluded with two more losses to Louisville and #20 Georgia Tech. All in all, the break didn’t help the Orange as much as they would have liked. But now, SU gets its break a little earlier ahead of their first ACC matchup of the season.
While Syracuse struggled against its conference opponents last year, the one constant over the past few seasons has been its dominance over Boston College. The Eagles haven’t beaten the Orange in over five years, but that’s not to say the matches haven’t been competitive. Last year, SU won 4-3 with the match not being decided until the final two sets of singles. Ines Fonte won in three sets 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 to secure the match victory for the ‘Cuse.
BC travels across I-90W for the second straight season to face SU, but the rivalry and history between these programs go back a whole lot longer than that. Next Saturday will be the 41st all-time meeting between the Orange and the Eagles. That extends Boston College’s record as the most-faced opponent for Syracuse in program history.
SU enters this matchup with a 4-1 record after dropping Sunday’s match against Columbia. BC sits at 2-1 with two matches this weekend against BU and Xavier as they look to improve their record. The match will begin at 11:00, Saturday at Drumlins Country Club.