Syracuse Finishes Off Road Trip With Win Over Clemson

By Yaw Bonsu

CitrusTV’s Tennis Beat Reporter

CLEMSON, S.C. – Syracuse (6-8, 5-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) is back to its winning ways after another one-point victory, this time, over Clemson (7-13, 1-9 ACC).

SU had all the momentum coming into the match, after a dominant upset over No. 11 Georgia Tech on Friday.

Syracuse secured the doubles point led by Sofya Trescheva and Polina Kozyreva in the No. 1 spot. The duo came into today’s matchup riding a four-match losing streak including being winless in conference play. Both of those streaks came to an end as the pair defeated Clemson’s Cristina Mayorova and Sophia Hatton 6-3.

The doubles point was clinched by Miranda Ramirez and Guzal Yusupova who were previous 1-6 in conference play. The pair beat Clemson’s Ali DeSpain and Laura Marti 6-4 to give SU the 1-0 dual lead.

Five out of six singles matches were decided in straight sets. Viktoriya Kanapatskaya continues her impressive season, improving her team-best record in No. 1 singles play. Kanapatskaya defeated Jenna Thompson 6-4, 7-5 to give the Orange the win. Despite being in the top singles match, Kanapatskaya ended up being the decider as the last singles match to finish.

Before then, Clemson secured victories over both Guzal Yusupova and Miranda Ramirez in the No. 2 and 3 singles respectively. Yusupova fell to Critina Mayorova 5-7, 3-6 while Ramirez lost 2-6, 6-4, 0-6 in the day’s only three-set match.

In other streak-snapping wins, Natalie Novotna beat Ali DeSpain 6-2, 7-5 to snap her three-game skid. Polina Kozyreva (also on a three-game losing streak) defeated Lana Sipek 6-4, 6-3.

Next up for the Orange are the toughest matchups of the season. Syracuse finishes the regular season with matchups against No. 1 North Carolina and No. 13 Duke. The first matchup against UNC get going at 3 p.m. on Friday.

ybonsu@citrustv.net | @yawbonsu27