Facing a 5-3 deficit with her partner Maria Avgerinos, Rhiann Newborn delivered two consecutive serves that kept the duo in its doubles match against North Carolina.

But Newborn committed a double fault late in the match, a costly mistake that derailed SU’s chance at earning the doubles point.

“It was frustrating. I should not have double-faulted that,” she said.

Syracuse (3-10, 3-5 Atlantic Coast) lost 2-of-3 doubles matches and stood no chance in its 7-0 loss to No. 8 North Carolina (19-3, 8-1) on Sunday at Drumlins Tennis Club. The freshman pairing of Newborn and Avgerinos had the opportunity to capture its biggest victory since becoming a doubles team.

But the lack of execution in the tiebreak was the difference against the battle-tested Tar Heels.

Syracuse interim head coach Shelley George recognized that her freshmen squandered an opportunity against UNC’s Caroline Price and Whitney Kay, the 11th best doubles pairing in the country.

“We were just a few points short of taking the doubles point, and that really would have helped us with the momentum going into the singles matches,” George said.

Newborn and Avgerinos stayed loose and confident as they secured a 6-5 lead in the match. But North Carolina immediately roared back, tying the score and never allowing the freshmen to comfortably hold the lead.

They responded by attacking the Tar Heels with aggressive serves, which gave the Orange a 7-6 lead. Instead of continuing in attack mode, though, Newborn and Avgerinos stayed conservative and that hurt their chances as the match wore on.

North Carolina pushed it to a tiebreak by tying the game at 7-7, where Newborn and Avgerinos faltered and were never able to recover.

“We really needed to close that match out,” George said. “When they were up 7-6, I think they got a little too defensive at that point. They needed to stay aggressive and close out the match.”

In the tiebreak, UNC pounced on the inexperience of its opponents. The Tar Heels raced out to a three-point lead and placed plenty of pressure on the Orange.

Avgerinos said it’s crucial to always move forward, and that Sunday’s loss is another reminder that you can’t show fear to your opponent.

“One of the important things is showing your opponent that you’re never giving up,” she said, “so they don’t think that they can just walk over us.”

Newborn attempted to turn the tide through her powerful serves, but her own miscues effectively ended SU’s chances of taking the doubles point. She had two miscalculated serves that led to a double fault, and a four-point advantage for North Carolina in the tiebreak.

A month ago, she recorded a double fault against Virginia Tech and pulled out the victory. This time, though, Newborn was incapable of overcoming a crucial mistake against a Top-10 opponent.

George recognizes the amount of pressure placed on Newborn as a freshman, and is confident she will use these matches as a learning experience moving forward.

Said George: “Hopefully as she matures as a player, that kind of stuff won’t creep up in her game.”

Published on March 30, 2014 at 8:36 pm