SU Takes 2nd Straight Win vs. Brown
By Philip Galati IV | @PhilipGalati4
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – SU Tennis defeated Brown at Drumlins on Saturday, 5-2. The Orange
opened the duel with a strong doubles outing from Shiori Ito and Miyuka Kimoto.
At 3-3 in the set, the pair showed their strength at the baseline to earn a 6-3 doubles
win. That score was matched by Viktoria Kanapatskaya and Ines Fonte to secure the doubles
point to open the afternoon.
On the third doubles court, however, things went differently for Polina Kozyreva and
Sofya Trescheva. After going up 2-1, they allowed Brown’s Ali Benedetto and Lindsey
Hofflander to win 5 games in a row for a consolation victory.
The singles slate was once again punctuated by excellence from the racquets of the two
newcomers. Both freshmen won their first singles game before dropping the next two, but rallied
from the break points to claim victory. Miyuka Kimoto won her match 6-3, 6-4 on the #2 Court.
Matching her fellow Japanese teammate, Shiori Ito grabbed her singles win after forcing a
tiebreak, 3-6, 6-1, 6-0.
Fonte and Kozyreva won their respective matches as well, but that’s when things took a
turn for the Orange. On Court #1, Viktoria Kanapatskaya couldn’t hold off Britany Lau, falling
6-4, 6-4. Head Coach Younes Limam says he expects the Belarus native to bounce back
quickly.
“Her strength is her competitiveness. The fact is she hates to lose,” said Limam.“[Viktoria] learned that last spring, you gotta have a short memory. You gotta focus on what’s ahead of you. Tough day for her, but I’m sure she’ll bounce back tomorrow.”
And on Court #3, Sofya Trescheva retired during the second set. At the time, she was
down to Brown’s Gabby Soliman, 7-5. Trescheva’s right arm was bandaged up after the match,
but Coach Limam says it’s just a precaution for tomorrow.
“We decided just because we’re playing back to back, we’re playing a lot of tennis, and
spoke to our trainer, and the best decision for today was to have her stop that match once she
clinched,” said Limam. “She’s been struggling with ehr arm thourhought the last few seasons,
soi we’re just trying to manage that to the best of our ability.”
On Sunday, the Orange host Penn State. The Nittany Lions were swept in their season
opener last week by Old Dominion. These two teams haven’t dueled since 2007, when Penn
State won 6-1. The duel is scheduled to get underway at 11 am. CitrusTV will have live
courtside updates from the game on Twitter @CitrusTVSports.
