Down 5-4 in the third set of her senior day match, with the game tied at 30, Emily Harman ripped a hard serve that caught Boston University’s Vivien Lazsloffy off guard. Laszloffy managed to make contact, but the ball sailed up to hit the roof.

The play was a microcosm of Syracuse’s focus on aggression and dictating tempo this weekend.

‘Aggression is everything,’ head coach Luke Jensen said. ‘We’ve got to come at them with a little bit more force, and I thought we did that.’

No. 47 Syracuse (12-4, 5-1 Big East) earned a weekend sweep of Binghamton (5-8, 1-1 America East) and BU (5-8, 1-1 America East) with back-to-back 7-0 shutouts in the last home matches of the season. The team’s match scheduled for next weekend against Army has been canceled due to Army travel budget restrictions. The Orange extended its winning streak to five, and has won 10 of its last 11.

The team is peaking at the right time, making NCAA tournament aspirations an attainable goal this season. The surge correlates with Syracuse’s increased ability to put its up-tempo game plan into action.

Freshman Komal Safdar used her aggressive mentality to jump out to an early lead and wear her opponent down. Steadily working her way back from injury, Safdar put together a strong offensive performance against BU, attacking the net and forcing her opponent off balance.

‘The first and last thing (volunteer assistant) coach (Len) Lopoo said to me was ‘quick start,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, quick start,” Safdar said. ‘I started off with some momentum, kept going and then kept the energy.’

The team’s seniors, Harman and Alessondra Parra, each earned victories in their final matches at Drumlins Tennis Center. Parra maintained her desired tempo throughout the match despite her opponent’s efforts to slow down the pace.

But Parra didn’t get a chance to make a play for the last point of her home career. BU’s Monika Mical committed a double fault on match point, giving Parra the victory. Parra constantly misdirected shots against Mical and played with a mix of power and precision.

Parra was fired up for her last home match, coming out aggressive from the beginning.

‘I didn’t want to let up at all, and I wanted to give it everything I had,’ Parra said. ‘I didn’t want to look back and wish I would have tried harder.’

Syracuse forced the tempo right again against Binghamton. Harman and Parra were paired together at No. 1 doubles, and they pushed their opponents into the backcourt on most points.

When Harman and Parra were serving, a distinct pattern emerged. One produced a hard serve, causing Binghamton to send a weak return that was usually in the air for more than a second. The other then attacked the net, spiking the ball and winning the point.

Parra felt that Harman could have almost won without any help.

‘Honestly, Harman is so good at doubles,’ Parra said. ‘She makes my job super easy. I really feel like I just stand there sometimes.’

The seniors defeated both doubles opponents this weekend 8-2.

In both matches, Harman worked especially hard for the victory, with a similar pattern emerging. She would come out firing, producing misdirection and change-of-pace shots that seemed to confuse the opponent. Harman’s Binghamton opponent, Jill Santos, repeatedly shook her head and smiled after falling victim to constant changeups.

‘My game is a lot different than a lot of other people,’ Harman said. ‘Anytime I come out and play very aggressive against someone, that’s not something that they see a lot, and they’re going to be confused a little bit.’

But then Harman struggled in the second set, losing it to each opponent. She failed to make quick adjustments after receiving new balls, and she lost many points by overshooting the court.

But she found a way to win. Her match Sunday was the last in play, for a good half-hour. All eyes were on Harman, and she was two points away from losing the final home match of her Syracuse career.

She made sure that wouldn’t be the case.

‘It’s great to see Harman tough out that win,’ Jensen said. ‘It would have just been a bad taste in our mouth if we lost that final match. But she finished strong, very confident. The team is very confident.’

kmprisei@syr.edu

Published on March 25, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Kevin: kmprisei@syr.edu