No. 23 Syracuse Collapses in 7-0 Loss to No. 10 Virginia
By Cameron Ezeir
CitrusTV Tennis Beat Reporter
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — For the first time in over a month and half, Syracuse left the comforts of Drumlins Country Club. SU made the trip to Charlottesville—coming off two consecutive wins—fresh off of receiving top 25 recognition from the ITA. The Orange were also seeking their first win over the Cavaliers in the Younes Limam era. But the 10th ranked team in the country controlled the duel from start to finish. No. 23 Syracuse (8-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast) ran into a brick wall against No. 10 Virginia (9-4, 3-2 Atlantic Coast) in a 7-0 loss.
In a much-anticipated top-25 ACC matchup, Syracuse fell flat from the jump. Limam sent out the same doubles lineup that he did in their wins over No. 15 Notre Dame and Louisville, but this time, SU had less success. At Doubles 2, Sofya Golubovskaya and Sonya Treshcheva failed to win their second straight as a pair, falling 1-6. Much like the second court, the Doubles 1 pairing of Guzal Yusupova and Zeynep Erman lost 1-6 as well. This resulted in SU’s seventh overall doubles point defeat of the season and their sixth in the last seven duels. However, Syracuse’s abysmal day on the courts was just getting underway.
With the late scratch of Polina Kozyreva from the singles lineup, Sofya Golubovskaya played individually for the first time since reaggravating her shoulder against Columbia. The junior looked flat all match long in an 0-6, 0-6 loss.
What followed was history for the Orange, and in the worst way possible. Every SU player lost their respective first set. This was a direct proponent of the Orange’s inability to stick with individually ranked opponents. The Cavaliers have both 4 ranked singles players and doubles pairs on their team, which proved too much for Syracuse to overcome.
Freshman Kim Hansen lost her third match in five duels, 3-6, 4-6 against No. 86 Sofia Munera. Guzal Yusupova—the sole-ranked player for the Orange at number 82—lost her fifth straight to the 10th ranked player in the country. Treshcheva and Erman followed up those two performances with straight set losses of their own.
Down 0-6, Miranda Ramirez fought hard against No. 47 Rosie Johanson but ultimately lost in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, as the duel concluded 0-7 in favor of the Cavaliers. This marks SU’s second shutout loss of the season to a top-10 ACC opponent. The No. 23ranked team in the country looked poor in singles and doubles play, dropping to 8-3. The Orange now face their hardest stretch of the season in the upcoming weeks. This collection of games includes three top 10 teams in the matter of 9 days.
Next up for Syracuse, they return home to host No. 8 Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets sport two singles players in the top 50. Coach Limam and the rest of the Orange players have to muster up some kind of formula in response to such a deflating performance. First serve between SU and GT is at 3 p.m. this Friday.
caezeir@syr.edu | @EzeirCameron
