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Across its first three conference matches, Syracuse failed to win the doubles point despite spurts of success. Against North Carolina, Serafima Shastova and Monika Wojcik shined. Versus Duke, Miyuka Kimoto and Nelly Knezkova earned an improbable victory when they took down the No. 11 ranked doubles duo in the country.

Friday’s match against Miami was an opportunity for the Orange to break out and take the doubles point. Shastova and Wojcik sparked SU’s hopes with a win in the No. 3 spot, but the No. 1 and 2 teams fell to the Hurricanes.

Still, Limam expressed unwavering confidence in his doubles pairings. After the defeat to the Blue Devils, he said the Orange are “playing doubles at a very high level” but has acknowledged the results weren’t showing.

On Sunday, Limam’s sentiment came to fruition. Syracuse (8-3, 1-3 Atlantic Coast) earned its first conference play doubles point in a 4-3 over Florida State (10-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast). Constance Levivier flourished in her ACC debut, winning 6-3 alongside Anastasia Sysoeva. Meanwhile, Shastova and Wojcik improved to 4-1 as a duo on the season with a 6-4 win, capturing the Orange’s double point.

“We discussed things this morning, and we thought that the best thing for the team was to keep two teams the same and kind of do something a little different on that third doubles team,” Limam said.

Following Friday’s match, Sysoeva mentioned the doubles point accounts for just 14% of the total points in the match. But it was a key reason for SU’s loss to Miami.

Against the Seminoles, the Orange needed to build confidence and momentum early; especially considering the FSU duo of Eva Shaw and Maria Julianna Parra Romero was 7-0 in No. 1 doubles coming into the match.

As it turns out, Sunday’s match did not come down to the No. 86-ranked Intercollegiate Tennis Association doubles duo. Instead, Syracuse took care of business in the No. 2 and 3 doubles spots.

Levivier hadn’t appeared in any action since facing Boston University on Feb. 8. Sunday, she played in place of Shiori Ito, who had a “very long afternoon, and a very physical, emotional, and mental match” against Miami on Friday, Limam said.

Levivier and Sysoeva jumped out to a 3-2 lead, thanks to a perfectly placed backhand from Sysoeva. They extended their lead to two after winning the sixth game, but Florida State’s Millie Bissett and Laura Putz battled back.

Bissett skied for a one-handed backhand to keep FSU alive in the seventh game as it clawed it back to a deuce. At deuce, Bisset’s strong forehand made it 4-3. From there, Levivier and Sysoeva remained calm to win the next two games and take the match, holding off any last Seminole charge.

“We all practiced really hard for this week, so I’m always ready to play,” Levivier said. “Whether I play or not I feel like I’m practicing the same, so I just went out on the court trying to be confident and just trust myself again.”

On court four, Shastova and Wojcik were locked into a battle with Florida State’s Tina Li and Maelie Monflis. After Monfils laced a forehand just inside the right end-line to make FSU’s advantage 2-1, Wojcik settled in.

The No. 52 ranked recruit in the country, according to tennisrecruiting.net established herself with a couple of clinically-placed forehands to tie the score 2-2. In the next game, Shastova squared up and fired a forehand that surprised Monfils, whizzing past her left as she was positioned on the right side of the court to give SU a 3-2 lead.

But the Seminole duo responded, displaying a flurry of emotion after Li ripped a forehand that hit off Shastova’s racket short at the net to even the match at 4-4.

Shastova and Wojcik remained undeterred by FSU’s wave of emotion, staying connected throughout the subsequent games and rarely committing unforced errors. Shastova had a heads-up play at the net, firing a volley at Li’s shoes to take the match to match point. Monfils rose for one of her signature volleys, but it landed short, and the SU duo rejoiced.

Knezkova and Kimoto battled against Shaw and Parra Romero, but the match was rendered unfinished after the Orange’s two victories secured them the doubles point.

Syracuse carried the momentum into singles play, securing a 4-3 win, its first conference victory of the season. That wouldn’t have been the case without corralling the doubles point.

“It feels amazing, I’m so proud of the team, honestly, because it was a really tough loss on Friday, and I’m so glad we bounced back, and I couldn’t be prouder of the team,” Levivier said.

Published on March 2, 2025 at 6:29 pm