Syracuse Tennis Drops Another ACC Game Against Boston College
By Brad Klein
CitrusTV Tennis Beat Reporter
CHESTNUT HILL, MA – Through the first four duels of the season, Syracuse (4-2, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) looked not only like an improved squad, but also a national contender. Miranda Ramirez and Gabriela Knutson, 2018 All-Americans, anchored a deep doubles roster. Knutson herself was coming off an incredible season, during which she emerged as a top-10 player.
She shone in the Orange’s win over Michigan, knocking off No. 3 Kate Fahey. Syracuse punched their ticket to the ITA Indoor Championships for the first time in program history. The team was ranked No. 10 in the country, their highest mark ever.
But that was then. For the Orange, everything seems to have been turned upside down; ACC play has been a struggle. Once 4-0, Syracuse fell to Virginia on Friday 4-3 at Drumlins for their first loss. On Sunday, Boston College (7-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) did the same in Chestnut Hill.
The Orange lost the doubles point for the third consecutive time. Sofya Golubovskaya and Sonya Trescheva lost their doubles match 6-3. Even though Knutson and Ramirez won their match 7-5, it wasn’t enough to will Syracuse to victory. Guzal Yusupova and Dina Hegab lost the final doubles match to give the Eagles the first point and the momentum.
This start mirrored their previous loss to UVA. After Friday’s match, Head Coach Younes Limam cited being “on our heels” as one of the reasons they weren’t able to keep the winning streak going.
The Orange stumbled into singles play. BC quickly gained even more momentum when unranked Yufei Long pulled off the straight set upset over Knutson 6-4, 6-4. This is the first time she has lost three straight singles matches since 2017.
Miranda Ramirez’s past three matches have been a different story. Leading up to BC, she was 3-0 in her last three, including a straight set victory against UVA’s Chloe Gullickson. But her fire was extinguished by Jackie Urbinati 6-3, 3-6, 4-6.
At that point, the Orange were down 3-0 with losses in doubles, the first and third singles court. However, the team showed a lot of fight and made it close. Guzal Yusupova, Sofya Golubovskaya and Sonya Trescheva all won their singles matches to even the score at three apiece. In the end, Dina Hegab could not finish the comeback. Laura Lopez defeated her in straight sets 7-6, 6-3.
The Orange has a few days off before they travel west to Seattle on February 8 for the Indoor Championships with a chance to white-wash their recent struggles.
bwklein@syr.edu | @BradKlein15
