In a match that lasted over three and a half hours, 25th-ranked Syracuse (15-8, 7-7 Atlantic Coast) defeated 46th-ranked Georgia State (15-6, 4-0 Sun Belt), 4-3, in Gainesville, Florida to win its first-ever NCAA tournament match and move to the second round.

SU will face No. 1 Florida on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Led by the play of Anna Shkudun, Libi Mesh and Dina Hegab, the Orange overcame a deficit of 1-0, after losing the doubles point, and 3-2, to win by one with Hegab and Shkudun finishing within minutes of each other to preserve the victory.

The match started out with SU losing two of its three doubles matches including a defeat of the 27th-ranked doubles pairing, Valeria Salazar and Gabriella Knutson, by a score of 6-3. Hegab and Shkudun lost their doubles match, 7-5. Maria Tritou and Nicole Mitchell won their match, 6-0.

Down 1-0, Syracuse needed to win four singles matches to advance.

The Orange lost its first match with Tritou falling to Georgia State’s Daniela Ramirez 6-2 and 6-0. Tritou has now lost 11 straight singles sets.

Next, Mesh won her match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Knutson also won her match in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5, against Niri Rasolomalala, who had won 11 straight matches coming into the tournament. Salazar then lost her match, 7-5, 6-5.

Down 3-2, Hegab won one of the longer matches, 7-6, 7-6, to set up a photo finish.

Tied at 3-3, Shkudun, Syracuse’s highest ranked player at No. 64, defeated Georgia State’s highest ranked player, No. 114 Linn Timmermann, in the longest and most crucial match of the day in three sets, 2-6, 7-6, 6-2.

With the win, Syracuse defeated a ranked opponent for the sixth time this season. The Orange will look to pick up its second-ever NCAA tournament win on Saturday.

Published on May 13, 2016 at 4:02 pm

Contact Jake: jafalk@syr.edu