Every season, SU head coach Younes Limam takes a specified approach to coaching his players. During home games, Limam tends to focus on one or two matches at a time during singles instead of following all six going on.

This method is not strategic, Limam says, but rather an instinctive decision. He finds a struggling player and hones in on their game. Last season, Limam focused most of his time watching then-freshman Miranda Ramirez. Now, his new prodigy is freshman Sofya Golubovskaya, who came to Syracuse for the first time on Jan. 10.

“We go to the one that might need more confidence,” Limam said, “and we work from there.”

During home games, Syracuse has three coaches present — Limam, Shelley George and Len Lopoo — which allows each of them to concentrate their attention on a specific match or two.

Ramirez, who primarily played at the top of the lineup last season as a freshman, said Limam helped her adjust mentally and strategically to her new surroundings. During breaks in games, Limam would direct Ramirez to specific weaknesses about her opponent and tell her how to exploit them.

“It was great to have that extra eye watching my games,” Ramirez said, “… I have a good enough base of a game where I can figure some things out by myself now.”

This season, Limam has spent less time at Ramirez’s court. Ramirez, who’s dropped one set at home all season, hasn’t needed as much help from Limam as she got last year, she said. She added she still appreciates advice from George and Lopoo, who usually watch her matches, in between breaks.

Though Limam will try to watch key points of each match, he has spent almost every match this year watching Golubovskaya’s game. Golubovskaya is the youngest player on SU’s eight-player team and the only freshman. She’s had to adjust quickly after moving from her hometown, Moscow, Russia, to Syracuse just 11 days before her first match.

“I try to be on (Golubovskaya’s) court as much as possible,” Limam says, “and get a feel on the way she likes to be coached in tough situations.”

Golubovskaya has spent the majority of the season playing in the top of the lineup, including the last three matches where she started second singles. Limam usually tells her to breath between points, bend her knees and to not rush, Golubovskaya said.

On Sunday’s match against Yale, Golubovskaya struggled in the first set. During her match, Limam kept yelling towards Golubovskaya and she noticeably shook him off several times.

“When you are down and things are not going well,” Golubovskaya said after her match against Yale’s Valerie Shklover, “and you’re so angry, and he’s just trying to tell you something, you’re like don’t talk to me.”

After winning the first set on a tiebreaker, Golubovskaya said she began to focus on staying calm, something Limam told her to work on, and cruised in the second set.

Limam’s emphasis on fixating in-game attention on first-year players proved to be effective with Ramirez. She’s won five of her first six matches to start her sophomore campaign without Limam focusing on her. If Golubovskaya buys into Limam’s advice, she may follow suit.

Published on February 20, 2018 at 9:32 pm

Contact KJ: kjedelma@syr.edu | @KJEdelman