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Tennis

Syracuse defeats Florida Atlantic, 4-1, to end 4-match road trip

Max Freund | Staff Photographer

Sofya Golubvskaya lost just two games at second singles on Monday.

It’s been a year of streaks for No. 29 Syracuse (9-5, 2-3 Atlantic Coast). It started with a four-match win streak that kicked off the season, followed quickly by four straight losses. After winning four straight again, the Orange lost to Georgia Tech on Mar. 3. But Syracuse didn’t allow another loss as it earned a 4-1 victory over Florida Atlantic (5-6) on Monday morning.

The No. 70 doubles pairing of Gabriela Knutson and Miranda Ramirez played their first match as a ranked pair this season after ending last season at No. 8. A slide in the fall had knocked them all the way out. After going down 1-0, the duo rattled off four straight games to take a 4-1 lead. They never gave it back up and won the first set 6-4. Syracuse was able to secure the opening point at third doubles as Dina Hegab and Guzal Yusupova, down 4-2, nabbed four straight games to win. The last doubles match went unfinished with Sofya Golubovskaya and Sonya Treshcheva down 5-2.

The Orange got off to a hot start in singles from Golubovskaya at second singles. She won well before everyone else, 6-1, 6-1, to take it in straight sets. Libi Mesh, at sixth singles, was the only other player to win in straight sets, winning 6-3, 6-1.

With Syracuse up 3-0, Florida Atlantic finally got on the board when unranked Martina Kudelova upset No. 42 Knutson. Knutson was down for most of the first set, losing 6-4. But in the second set, she jumped out to a 4-1 lead and took the set, 6-2. An early 3-2 deficit in the third set proved too much to overcome as Kudelova won 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

But the Orange were able to clinch the match not long after as Yusupova won her match in three sets. In the first, she rallied from down 2-1 to win 6-3, but lost the second 4-6. In the third set, she went up 2-1 and clinched the deciding fourth point for the Orange, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Second singles and fifth singles went unfinished. In both the third sets, No. 77 Ramirez was losing 4-3, and Hegab was down 2-1.



Syracuse will next head home for an ACC matchup with Virginia Tech (6-7, 1-4) on Friday at 2 p.m.

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