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Syracuse (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) proved to be just too much for NJIT (0-1,  0-0 America East) to handle at Drumlins Country Club, dropping only one set in a 7-0 route of the Highlanders. 

The match started with doubles, where SU started its spring season sweeping the doubles round 3-0. Viktoriya Kanapatskaya and Shiori Ito jumped onto the pair of Laura Wipfli and Sandra Dzhambazov, quickly dominating them to a 6-2 win. Then, Ines Fonte and Polina Kozyreva started slow, going down 1-0 and 2-1. However, they would go on a 5-2 run to secure the doubles victory for the Orange. 

The pair of Kozyreva and Fonte took care of business while the third and final doubles match became meaningless and they didn’t have to continue the match, yet both sides chose to continue. The match between Syracuse’s Miyuka Kimoto and Zeynep Erman and NJIT’s Joleta Budiman and Shivani Ingle would be the closest match of the opening doubles round. 

The match featured seven different lead changes and high speed volleys. The Orange adjusted to this by having both players playing back on serves to make up for the speed at which Ingle hit the ball. The back-and-forth continued on, as they went into a tiebreaker to decide the match. Both sides started cranking up the speed on their volleys, with NJIT’s Budiman being the first one to crack. She returned the ball too low and hit the net, giving the Orange the victory 6-5 (7-4 tiebreaker) to secure the doubles point. 

“I thought we did a great job getting those w’s in the doubles, and giving us the confidence going into the singles,” Head coach Younes Limam said on the strong start in the double. “I thought the team responded extremely well to the nerves with (it) being the first match of the season.”

The Orange dropped only one set in singles. Kimoto replaced Kozyreva as the No. 1 in singles, however both players would sweep their sets. 

“Miyuka proved herself last year, and had a great fall. She’s playing some great tennis.” Limam said. 

Kozyreva convincingly won both sets by the scores 6-2 and 6-1, while Kimoto narrowly won both sets versus Ingle 6-5 and 6-4. The only Syracuse player to face adversity would be Erman, who dropped the first set 6-3, but would talk to coach Limam.

“Her opponent was playing with a lot of pace, hitting a lot of flat balls,” Limam said. “Zeynep, in the middle of that second set, started the changing the pace and trusting her shots, it’s never easy when you haven’t played a single in a while” 

Erman’s last singles match was April 20th against Wake Forest. Her last singles victory was April 17th at Florida State. She snapped a four-match losing streak dating back to that match at FSU.

Erman’s body language completely flipped when the second set started. She looked way more confident in herself, even when she went down 3-0 to Budman early into the second set. This time, Erman wouldn’t back down. She fought her way back to take the set, going on a 6-0 run to force a third tie-breaking set. It was clear that the break between the first and second sets is where the tide turned for her. She took the only third set of the day by a score of 6-2, and won her team the point. 

Ito and Fonte both swept their singles with relative ease. Fonte’s victory would be the nail in the coffin for NJIT, as she secured the game winning points for the Orange. The Orange dominance would continue from top to bottom as every player won their single. 

Limam says he “expects another battle and tough match” as Syracuse hosts Boston on Sunday, but wants his players to recover and be ready to go for tomorrow.

Published on January 21, 2023 at 6:21 pm