#1 UNC Hands Syracuse Tennis First Shutout of Season
By: Philip Galati | @philipgalati4
CitrusTV Tennis Beat Reporter
CHAPEL HILL, NC – Syracuse Tennis drops its fourth dual in its last five outings after posting a goose egg on the scoreboard against the best team in the nation, 7-0. Friday’s dual marks the first time the Orange have failed to score a point in a dual since April 22, a 5-0 loss to Wake Forest in their opening dual of the ACC Tournament.
The Doubles point kicked things off as per usual, with Sonya Trescheva and Shiori Ito taking the #1 seed. The pair had earned their first ranking of the season at #45 in the nation, boasting a 5-1 record as a doubles pair. That record wouldn’t change after Friday, however, as their match against Cameron Morra and Carson Tanguilig was suspended at 4 games apiece. The point had already been decided, with Polina Kozyreva and Miyuka Kimoto falling on Court #2 6-3, and Viktoriya Kanapatskaya and Ines Fonte bested on Court #3 6-1.
In singles play, Miyuka Kimoto was the only player who looked like had a shot at grabbing a point. She took #15 Elizabeth Scotty to three sets on Court #2, but eventually went down in a tiebreak 6-2. 2-6, 1-0 (10-5).
The other half of the Orange freshmen didn’t fare much better. Shiori Ito dropped her match 6-2, 6-2, on Court #5 against #24 Carson Tanguilig. In fact, 5 of 6 singles matches saw the Orange playing Top-30 ranked singles opponents, with Ines Fonte the exception on Court #6. That didn’t help her much, though, as she still couldn’t get past Anika Yarlaggada, 6-0, 6-2.
Sonya Trescehva lost on Court #4, 6-2, 6-1. On Courts #1 and #3, Viktoriya Kanapatskaya and Polina Kozyreva faced the #9 and #10 ranked singles players in the country respectively. Kanapatskaya pushed her second set to extra games but couldn’t overcome a 6-2. 7-5 scoreline, with Kozyreva never in the running at 6-1, 6-2.
The North Carolina road trip continues for the Orange when they take on a #5 ranked Duke team in Durham on Sunday. Follow along @CitrusTVSports on Twitter for live updates from the dual.
