Coming off its first loss of the season against Virginia, Syracuse (4-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) was without No. 17 Gabriela Knutson against Connecticut (3-2). Coach Younes Limam said that her absence was a decision made by the team and that she is “good to go whenever we need her.”

While Knutson’s usual doubles partner, Miranda Ramirez, cruised to a victory alongside Nicole Mitchell, 6-3, SU dropped its first doubles point of the season behind unsteady performances from the other two pairs. The Orange started in a hole.

But behind strong singles performances, Syracuse shook off its shaky start and pulled off its fourth win of the season at Drumlins Country Club, 5-2. SU’s win marks its tenth straight victory against UConn, the first since 2013.

Sofya Golubovskaya and Anna Shkudun teamed up to play first doubles for the first time this season. Shkudun had flashes of a strong swing from her first service win, but Golubovskaya struggled to stay aggressive close to the net. Down 1-4, Golubovskaya braced her body towards two straight volley shots and came up short on both. Ultimately, they lost 3-6.

“I don’t like playing doubles,” Golubovskaya said, “The net play is hard, and I’m not too good at it yet.”

After Ramirez and Mitchell tied up the doubles score for SU, Libi Mesh and Dina Hegab allowed UConn to come back down 5-1 to force a tiebreaker. After a tight start to the tiebreaker, UConn rattled off four points in five serves. Down 6-4 in the tiebreaker, Mesh elected to lean back on the run and swing at a ball nearing the end line, resulting in a low shot into the net. UConn was in control up one team point to none.

During the few minutes before their singles matches, Mesh and Golubovskaya spoke to a couple of teammates, but mostly remained to themselves.

Without Knutson playing, the lineup was altered for singles. Ramirez moved to first singles, Golubovskaya played second singles for the first time in her career and Nicole Mitchell filled the final spot at sixth.

“We have a lot of options,” Limam said, “It’s a long season, so it’s nice to see everyone step up.”

Following a lackluster start in doubles, Golubovskaya perked up and took a commanding 4-1 lead over UConn’s Jacquelyn Fitz-Randolph with two backhand shots aimed towards the top left corner of the court. After controlling the first set, Golubovskaya led the rest of the match with corner shots and quick volleys. Nearing match point, Golubovskaya made Fitz-Randolph do a half-split to get to a ball that was nowhere near her en route to a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

After Ramirez made light work of Yelyzaveta Pletnyeva, 6-0, 6-2, Mesh and Hegab redeemed themselves with swift two-set victories against Jacqueline Lazaro and Zaina Zaki, respectively. As Hegab whacked a shot to the top right edge of the court, she fist pumped leading up to match point. After Zaki’s final shot floated over her head, Hegab clinched the match for SU. She remains undefeated in singles play this season.

Mitchell fell short in a second-set tiebreaker during her second singles match of the season resulting in Syracuse’s only singles loss of the day, and Shkudun handled UConn’s Summer Walker, 6-3, 6-4, to round out the 5-2 victory for Syracuse.

Limam credited the depth of his team for overcoming the absence of Knutson. After SU dropped its first doubles point of the season, Limam made sure his team did not panic and felt good after the first set of singles, he said.

“It’s always good to deal with these kind of scenarios early in the season,” Limam said, “We just have to compete through them, and they did that today.”

Published on February 9, 2018 at 10:33 pm

Contact KJ: kjedelma@syr.edu | @KJEdelman