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Miranda Ramirez and Guzal Yusupova spoke to each other between each serve, planning their next move on Miami’s No. 3 doubles pair of Daevenia Achong and Florencia Urrutia. Ramirez and Yusopova had jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but after a series of out-of-bound serves, the pair found themselves tied 4-4 with Miami.

Head coach Younes Limam stood by watching, shouting for Yusupova to stay up after a series of volleys into the net. Eventually, Miami’s dominance at the net overpowered the Orange’s defense, leading to a 6-4 loss for Ramirez and Yusupova.

“We started really well in doubles,” Limam said. “We set the tone early, but Miami came back with some big shots and big moments.”

On Friday afternoon at Drumlins Tennis Center, Syracuse (4-5, 1-1 ACC) took on Miami (4-5, 2-3), where Viktoriya Kanapatskaya kept her winning streak alive but Syracuse ultimately fell 4-3 against the Hurricanes.

Natalie Novotna and Kanapatskaya, the No. 1 doubles pair for the Orange, initially demonstrated endurance and good communication, swiftly overtaking Miami’s efforts. The pair — who played all but one match together this season – easily swept Miami’s Estela Perez-Somarriba and Isabella Pfennig 6-0.

As Novotna and Kanapatskaya cemented their win and Ramierez and Yusopova struggled to hang on, the No. 2 doubles pair battled on a nearby court.

The doubles point came down to Sofya Treshcheva and Polina Kozyreva, who were locked in back-and-forth volleys with Miami’s Maya Tahan and Diana Khodan. Miami jumped out to a 5-4 lead as Kozyreva smashed a backhand to put the Orange up 30-0 in the next set.

Miami quickly responded with a volley just over the net to tie the game at 30. After returning a serve just inside the box, Treshcheva responded with a one inside the box but barely lobbed a ball into play on the next serve at game point. As the ball fell out of bounds, Khodan and Kozyreva began to celebrate their doubles-point win that assisted Miami’s overall victory.

As doubles play concluded, singles matches commenced. Syracuse played 6 singles matches and won only three games with Kanapatskya, Syracuse’s No. 2-ranked singles player and the ACC’s Freshman of the Week. Kanapatskya showed her typical poise and precision on the court, with commanding 6-3 and 6-0 finishes against Pfennig. Her win marked her sixth straight singles win of the season.

Over on court 3, Syracuse’s No. 1 player, Yusupova, struggled to match the power of Perez-Somarriba’s forehands, dropping both sets 6-2 and 6-0.

Freshman Ines Fonte fought hard in her first set against Miami’s Khodan, narrowly losing the first set 7-6. Fonte was swept in her second set 6-0.

Kozyreva, the No. 4 single, dominated Achong on court five, winning both matches 6-4 and 7-5, respectively. Her win kept Syracuse in the overall matchup with a score of 3-2.

Syracuse’s fate came down to No. 5 single Ramirez and No. 3 Novotna, who both needed to win for Syracuse to secure the overall victory.

Ramirez opened the game with a series of long rallies with Miami’s Tahan. Ramirez won the first set 6-3 but dropped the second set 6-4.

In set three, Ramirez and Tahan both struggled with keeping serves in bounds, leading to a 40-all tie as Tahan led 5-4. Ramirez served, hitting her first serve out of bounds. In her second serve, Tahan rocketed a return to the deep corner, and an outstretched Ramirez lobbed it out of bounds, losing the duel – and the overall victory – for Syracuse.

“She battled,” Limam said. “Miranda is playing better and better, and it was a much better third set.”

Novotna continued to play after Ramirez’s loss with a matchup with Miami’s Urrutia. After dropping the first set 6-4, Novotna wrapped her right ankle up after an apparent injury and returned to play. She won the second and third sets 7-5 and 6-4, but Syracuse’s fate was already sealed.

Published on March 12, 2021 at 8:51 pm

Contact Gillian: gwhahn@syr.edu