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Tennis

Syracuse downs No. 30 Virginia Tech, 5-2, for 1st ranked win

Max Freund | Staff Photographer

Gabriela Knutson was the last player to win for Syracuse, tacking on a fifth point after the match was secured.

By KJ Edelman

After falling out of the ITA team rankings this week, Syracuse (9-1, 2-1) picked up its most important win of the season to date as it beat No. 30 Virginia Tech (8-1, 1-1) at Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center in Blacksburg. SU’s 5-2 win marks its first victory against a ranked opponent this season.

SU’s Sofya Golubovskaya and Anna Shkudun opened up second doubles with a 6-1 victory against Sarah Baron and Elena Cerezo-Codina while Masha Tritou and Dina Hegab fell to VT’s Nika Kozar and Nina Sorkin, 3-6, in the third slot.

The No. 19 pairing of Gabriela Knutson and Miranda Ramirez earned SU the doubles point as they fought off Caroline Daxhelet and Natalie Novotna to win, 7-5, on a double-fault.

With an early point to the scoreboard, Golubovskaya cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 victory against Cerezo-Codina to give SU its second point of the match in third singles.

After Dina Hegab made light work of Sorkin in the sixth slot, 6-4, 6-1, Shkudun rallied from a disappointing second set in fourth singles to outlast VT’s Kozar, 6-0, 1-6, 7-5, and clinch the match for Syracuse.



Despite a second set rally, Syracuse’s Libi Mesh fell to Katherine Butler in the fifth slot, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, to give VT its first point of the match.

At second singles, Ramirez fell behind 3-5 in the first set, down a break, and came back to force a tiebreaker. After evening up the tiebreak at 12-12, Ramirez gave up two consecutive points to lose the set, and ultimately lose the match to Daxhelet, 6-7 (12-14), 1-6.

The longest match of the day featured SU’s No. 18 Knutson and VT’s No. 61 Novotna with ITA ranking implications on the line.

Knutson fell behind in the first and second sets but forced tiebreakers in both. In the first set, Knutson took the tiebreak 7-5, but faltered in the second, 3-7, to lengthen the match to a third set. She took the third set with ease, 6-3, to win 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 and give Syracuse its fifth point of the day.

Syracuse hopes to build on its six-match winning streak as when it takes on No. 1 North Carolina on Sunday in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.





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