Down 2-5 in her singles second set, Sonya Treshcheva walked back to the bench with her head down and frustratingly dropped her racket near the bench. One game later, Oceane Garibal clinched the second set, 6-2, and pushed the match to a final third set.

Syracuse was behind St. John’s 3-0. Treshcheva needed to make a comeback of her own to keep SU alive. Miranda Ramirez, Zeynep Erman and Kim Hansen won their matches to even the overall score, so it all came down to Treshcheva’s final set. Eventually, back-to-back overhead spikes clinched Treshcheva’s victory in Syracuse’s (5-0) 4-3 win over St. John’s (2-2). 

“I couldn’t be prouder of the team today,” head coach Younes Limam said. “Obviously, as you guys saw a lot of adversity but couldn’t be prouder of how every single one of them handled it.”

To fall behind 3-0, Syracuse forfeited two points to St. John’s — one from Polina Kozyreva’s ankle injury during her doubles match that made St. John’s fully sweep the doubles point and then the subsequent point from Kozyreva’s inability to participate in sixth singles. On the court next to Trescheva, ITA’s No. 76 Guzal Yusupova gave up Syracuse’s singles point after being defeated by No. 40 Jessica Livianu 6-1, 6-1.

The Orange had to focus on single points from Ramirez, Hansen, Erman and Treshcheva to win the match. Limam huddled the team together before their singles matches and said the team needed to fight and fight for Kozyreva.

After Ramirez, Hansen and Ernep did their jobs, Treshcheva launched into her match against Garibal with a few serves that responded into out-of-bounds and net hits from St. John’s third singles player. She won the first set, 6-2, as Garibal continually hit it into the net. 

Throughout the match, Garibal’s loud grunts contrasted with Treshcheva’s quiet, even-keeled style. 

“I was confident,” said Treshcheva postgame. “I know my mindset was I need just to keep doing what I’m supposed to do and play my game.”

But after a rally off of Garibal’s serve in the second set, Treshcheva began to lose her hot hand and lost the first game. Eventually, Treshcheva let out a sigh after she blasted the ball into the net. Net shots continued for Treshcheva, with a nine-hit rally that culminated in another misfire for the sophomore. 

After another net hit down 1-3 during her serve, Treshcheva walked back to the baseline and screamed out something in Russian. From the sidelines, some of Garibal’s teammates commended her “finesse.” 

She’d lose the second set, 6-2, and entered the third-set decider. Treshcheva won the first game with her service point, and then broke Garibal’s serve with back-to-back spikes. 

But Garibal eventually battled back, tying the set at 3-3. Treshcheva hit her racket into the ground out of frustration. 

With the 3-3 tie, Treshcheva’s serve allowed her to build a 5-3 lead, but then tensions flared. Eventually Garibal fought back and hit a ball that Treshcheva softly said was out. Garibal accused Treshcheva of lying, and St. John’s head coach joined the verbal altercation with the line judge. The chair umpire confirmed Treshcheva’s call, awarding her the point. 

Garibal never recovered, with Treshcheva clinching the match for Syracuse, 6-3. First came one spike after a high-flying defensive lob from Garibal, backtracking to try to get the ball across the net. Treshcheva then delivered a final spike that became the game-winner. 

Cheers immediately erupted, and SU teammates hugged Treshcheva. A smiling Treshcheva in the middle of the stretching circle put two thumbs up while the television that kept score on court four read Syracuse 4, St. John’s 3.

Published on February 7, 2020 at 9:17 pm

Contact Christopher: cscargla@syr.edu | @chrisscargs