The Home Stretch for Syracuse Tennis
By Drew Albaugh | @Drew_Albaugh
Syracuse tennis has just four matches remaining before capping off its season and heading to Cary, North Carolina, for the ACC tournament, and every match is pivotal. The Orange sit 15th in the ACC, just one spot away from having to play a play-in game in the first round of the tournament, making it crucial for Syracuse to take advantage of its final regular-season games.
The Orange begin their final stretch with a home matchup against Virginia Tech this Friday. The Hokies have had a less-than-ideal season with an 11-10 record and a winless 0-9 mark in conference play. Still, Virginia Tech is ranked 60th in the country by the International Tennis Association, while Syracuse is ranked 68th. The Hokies are led by senior No. 1 Ozlem Uslu, who is ranked No. 35 in the country, nearly 100 spots higher than Syracuse’s Miyuka Kimoto, who is ranked No. 113. Outside of Uslu, however, the Hokies’ depth has been their downfall, with their No. 2 through No. 6 players posting a combined record below .500. After spending nearly a month on the road, returning to Drumlins Country Club should be a welcome sight for the Orange and could make the difference in a tightly contested matchup between two teams fighting to stay out of the 16th vs. 17th seeded first-round ACC tournament match.
Syracuse will have little time to rest before facing one of its toughest opponents of the season, No. 5 Virginia. The Cavaliers boast a 15-4 overall record, including a 7-2 mark in ACC play. Virginia’s marquee wins include victories over Duke, North Carolina, Tennessee and Stanford, with its only conference losses coming against NC State and California. The Cavaliers’ dominance is evident in their roster, with three players ranked inside the top 32 in the country: No. 32 Sara Ziodat, No. 30 Annabelle Xu and No. 26 Elaine Chervinsky. A win for the Orange would not only be a major morale booster but also one of the biggest upsets in recent memory for the program. Syracuse has shown the ability to pull off stunning underdog victories, most notably last season against NC State, but a win on Sunday would be on another level. If the Orange hope to secure a victory, winning the doubles point will be crucial. Syracuse is undefeated when winning the doubles point but just 1-7 in matches where it fails to do so.
To close out the season, Syracuse returns to the road to face Louisville on April 11 and Notre Dame on April 13. Both teams rank outside the top 30, with the Cardinals presenting one of the most winnable matchups for Syracuse. Louisville is 2-6 in ACC play, sitting just one game ahead of the Orange. The Cardinals are led by junior Alice Otis, a former five-star recruit who previously played at South Carolina and Denver before landing at Louisville. Syracuse’s final ACC challenge in South Bend will be a tough test. Notre Dame holds a 5-3 conference record and sits seventh in the ACC. The Orange will be underdogs, but if everything goes right, they could pull off a momentum-building win heading into postseason play.
