As players and coaches watched from a distance, Syracuse’s Libi Mesh stepped back and fired a ball that made her opponent, Colgate’s Kelly Klein, fall into the netting on the far left-hand corner of the court.

Mesh let out a holler and fist pump after closing out the day’s longest match.

Syracuse (2-0) tallied its second straight win, 7-0, against Colgate (0-1) by overpowering the Raiders. SU won all 15 sets on the day including 10 sets where the Orange came out on top 6-0.  Syracuse’s victory on Friday at Drumlins Country Club marks the first time the Orange has opened a season with consecutive 7-0 wins since 2009.

“It’s never easy to play an opponent that deep down you know you are gonna beat,” SU head coach Younes Limam said.

Syracuse opened the match with the season debut of the Gabriela Knutson and Miranda Ramirez doubles duo, the No. 16 doubles pairing in the nation. Knutson and Ramirez’s 6-1 victory in doubles, alongside 6-0 and 6-1 wins from the other SU pairings, helped propel the Orange towards controlling the match, Knutson said.

Both Knutson and Ramirez dominated their singles matches by making their opponents cover the court. After a serve, Knutson emphasized hitting the ball near the sidelines to wear out Mackenzie Deeter, the Raiders first singles player. In most instances, players from Colgate would return shots at a high angle or just whiff on the ball completely to give up points. Knutson and Ramirez, SU’s first and second singles players, each dropped just one game in their singles matches.

“Today we were a team that didn’t let the ball go across the court more than three times,” Knutson said, “I think that is why we were able to win so quickly.”

The match’s most competitive game featured Mesh, who found herself tied in the second set, 2-2, against Klein after sweeping the first set. After making Klein miss on a crucial swing to come back in the second set, Mesh became animated.

“I was rushing a bit and got a little nervous,” Mesh said, “so in order to get rid of that, I started to get more loud and it helped.”

Up 5-3, Mesh rallied off three straight points and yelled “Come on!” after her backhand swing ended the tough match. It was the only competitive moment of the day.  

“(Winning like this) can be a blessing and a curse.” Knutson said,“We feel really good, but we also can’t let ourselves get de-motivated.”

Published on January 26, 2018 at 6:52 pm

Contact KJ: kjedelma@syr.edu | @KJEdelman