Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Syracuse’s duo of freshman Shiori Ito and senior Sofya Treshcheva battled it out with Georgia Tech’s underclassman pairing, Kylie Bilchev and Ava Hrastar, to decide the doubles point. The score was 6-5 when Bilchev made the serve. They traded forehands before Treshcheva jumped in front and sent a sharp backhand at Hrastar’s feet.

She shoveled it off the ground and into the air, landing out of bounds behind Ito as she and Treshcheva cheered and embraced after securing the doubles point. Still, the Orange couldn’t come out on top, despite winning 83.3% of last season’s matches after winning the doubles point.

Winning the doubles point usually gives Syracuse some momentum going into singles. But that was not the case on Friday, as the Orange dropped 5-of-6 singles matches to lose 5-2. This was definitely an outlier for SU, but head coach Younes Limam is still focused on the positive takeaways from SU’s third consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference loss.

“It’s a long season, and we are just getting started,” Limam said. “We’ve already seen a lot of growth, and we are very pleased with our doubles performance as a team.”

The pairing of sophomores Viktoriya Kanapatskaya and Ines Fonte stomped Georgia Tech’s Gia Cohen and Ruth Marsh, winning 6-2. The Orange dropped the second doubles match 7-5, where the relatively new duo, Miyuka Kimoto and Polina Kozyreva, could not close out against Georgia Tech’s Kate Sharabura and Carol Lee.

Kanapatskaya was the only Syracuse player to earn a singles win on Friday, blowing an early lead that led to a tiebreaker. In the first set, she utilized her blend of power, agility and varying spins to keep Hrastar off balance throughout their singles match.

The first set was back and forth, ultimately ending 6-4. Then, Kanapatskaya took a commanding 5-1 lead before Hrastar stormed back to make it 6-5 in the second set. Kanapatskaya dropped the second set 7-6, and the tiebreaker began. In the end, Kanapatskaya closed out the tiebreaker 10-7 and gave the Orange a much-needed singles point.

“I’m very proud of Viktoriya. She played a very tough opponent today,” Limam said. “Even though she blew a 5-2 lead in the second set, she didn’t panic. She took it one point at a time and came through.”

The Orange had a new No. 1 singles player against Georgia Tech with Kimoto stepping into the role, a move Limam associated with exploiting matchups.

“We felt like Viktoriya (Kanapatskaya’s) style matched really well with her opponent and same for Miyuka (Kimoto),” Limam said. “We are familiar with both players. We played them last year, so we knew what to expect.”

Kimoto didn’t perform as well as Limam had hoped. In fact, she was the first player to lose in straight sets, falling 6-3 and 6-0. Lee controlled the match as Kimoto was kept on the run and consistently hit into the net. She was visibly frustrated during the second set as her fatigue started to set in, leading to the shutout.

Kozyreva dropped just her first singles match of the season on Friday. After playing the only close contest against then-No. 9 Virginia last week, Kozyreva took the match into the third set on Friday. Each set had the same score of 6-1, but Kozyreva was twice on the losing end of the set, failing to pick up a point for Syracuse.

Zeynep Erman made just her second singles appearance against Georgia Tech after losing in straight sets against Virginia last weekend. Erman replaced Treshcheva in the singles rotation in the last two matches after Treshcheva’s 2-5 start.

Treshcheva is also dealing with a shoulder injury, so Limam wanted to give her some rest before their ACC matchup on Sunday. Erman, who is coming off of surgery during winter break, lost 6-2 and 6-1 in straight sets to Georgia Tech’s Mahak Jain.

Erman’s quick loss was preceded by freshman Ito’s, who lost just her third singles match of the season 6-2 and 6-1 to junior Rosie Garcia Gross. Ito did not lead at anytime during the match and continuously failed to keep rallies alive in the later stages.

In the No. 6 spot, Fonte took a 3-5 singles record into her match against Cohen, which Fonte lost in three sets. Fonte got pummeled 6-0 in the first set, but she came out with improved power and ball placement in the second set, winning 6-2. In the final set, Fonte couldn’t catch up to Cohen’s speedy corner shots, and she fell 6-3.

“If we just keep getting used to this level of play and get the girls, especially the freshmen, a little more confidence, then we will be competitive on every court. And that is our goal,” Limam said.

Published on March 4, 2022 at 8:19 pm

Contact Wyatt: wbmiller@syr.edu