The Orange continue their Tar Heel troubles in a 4-0 loss.
By Evan Zaretsky | @evan_zaretsky
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Syracuse Tennis (4-3, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) kicked off ACC play against the #3 team in the country, North Carolina (10-1, 0-0 American Conference).
The Orange started off hot in the first game of doubles, taking two of three. But UNC quickly flipped the script. The Tarheels controlled the majority of the remainder of the doubles matches, winning two, giving them the point. SU’s No. 1 pairing and ITA’s #20 Nelly Knezkova and Anastasia Sysoeva kept it close though, losing just 6-4.
Singles started up, and Syracuse wasted no time jumping all over North Carolina. SU went ahead in four of six opening sets. But, it was never going to be easy to maintain that when you have to face four top 100 ITA players, including the #1 player in the country. The Tar Heels came crawling back in all first sets, sweeping the Orange.
The set one result meant that SU had to push a third set in four of six matches to keep its chances alive. The second set didn’t exactly go the Orange’s way to start. Halfway through the matches, Syracuse was down in five matches and tied in one. Could SU crawl back in the latter half of the second set?
Shastova fell 6-1 to #1 Brantmeier, Sysoeva lost 6-1 to #17 Evans and Knezkova dropped her match 6-2 to #6 Kajuru. The final three singles matches went unfinished.
FINAL: UNC 4 – 0 SU. Syracuse falls to 0-16 all-time against reigning ACC champions North Carolina.
The gauntlet for Syracuse continues against #19 Duke on Sunday. The Orange have yet to beat the Blue Devils’ in program history. Match time is set for noon. Be sure to follow @evan_zaretsky and @citrustvsports on X for in-game updates on that match.
