Libi Mesh couldn’t believe what she had done until her whole team surrounded her in a mosh pit. She, like many of her teammates, had not looked at the scoreboard until the game was over.

“I had no idea what the (final) score was,” Mesh said. “I went to cheer on (Dina Hegab) and my teammates yelled that we had won.”

Almost four hours had passed since the start of the match and it seemed as if Syracuse was going to lose its sixth straight game until it didn’t. Headed by two furious comebacks in singles from Valeria Salazar and Mesh, along with a stellar day overall by Gabriela Knutson, 40th-ranked Syracuse (9-6, 3-6 Atlantic Coast) defeated 19th-ranked Wake Forest (16-6, 5-5), 4-3, after losing in doubles in an up-and-down match.

After losing five straight matches, including a 7-0 loss to No. 4 North Carolina last Thursday, assistant coach Shelley George was happy to see Syracuse pull off the comeback, which is what Pro Football Hall of Famer Floyd Little spoke to the team about recently.

“There was so much fight in both of those girls today”, said George. “… We actually had Floyd Little come in and talk to the girls about perseverance, getting through tough times and finding a way. You can’t measure (the size) of somebody’s heart.”

George spoke with Salazar during her singles match when she was down 5-1 in the first set and changed her strategy, leading Salazar to a comeback win. George told her to come to the net more frequently and attack her opponent’s forehand.

“Besides the ranking (of Wake Forest) that’s going to help us,” Salazar said. “We all fought and persevered.”

Mesh, who had been down 5-0 in the final set of her match against Luisa Fernandez, also changed her approach and made a furious comeback that would ultimately seal the win and upset for Syracuse.

“I just didn’t give up and I knew if I won it made it easier for (my teammates),” Mesh said. “I saw that at some point she started rushing and (going after) the ball early. (Head coach Younes Limam) told me to stay positive and cheer for the other girls and that will help me to relax more.

Limam is happy to see his team put the past few weeks behind it and carry the momentum from this match into the final weeks of the season.

“This is why we play”, Limam said. “April is a big month for us and a lot is at stake, such as the NCAA’s. We needed a win like that to get momentum back.”

Published on April 1, 2016 at 10:44 pm

Contact Jake: jafalk@syr.edu