Anna Shkudun and Valeria Salazar watched as a return whistled through the gap between the two. Both dropped their heads back in disgust and let out a little moan, as Syracuse let the doubles point slip through their fingers.

“Honestly we played terrible. We were up 5-3 and my feeling was we were rushing a little bit and we had too many mistakes. They didn’t win, we just lost this game,” Shkudun said on the doubles loss.

However, that would be the only point that Syracuse (2-0) would allow, as they regrouped and came out strong in the singles matches. A quick sweep resulted in a 6-1 victory over Liberty University (1-3).

Shkudun, though losing in the doubles match, came back with a fierce and focused mind. Upset at the loss, the senior came out of the gates strong in her singles match against Liberty’s Belen Rivera.

“I was quite disappointed after the doubles match. But after, I was like, I have to win the singles,”Shkudun said. “I have to concentrate.”

An early 5-0 lead after she swept her opponent in the first set made it seem like Shkudun would walk away with a dominant win. Then, when the game seemed all but over, Shkudun’s hit a return that landed in the alley, just missing the line.

Rivera stuck her finger up to signal the ball had gone out. Shkudun thought otherwise and walked near the center of net to question her opponent.

“That’s out? That was in,” she said, looking toward the side of the court, hoping that a line judge or coach would be there to say something. But no one was there, and she let the call slide.

“I was like ‘why is she cheating me?’, I was pretty sure the ball was in the court, and the score was pretty easy. Like 6-0, 5-0, why are you cheating? I’m pretty sure she saw the ball was in,” Shkudun said. “I was just focusing on the next ball.”

Then, just a few plays later, another return landed by the line. Her opponent again, raised that same finger, signaling the ball landed in the alley. Shkudun, obviously distressed, questioned the call and looked over to assistant coach Len Lopoo.

“It’s difficult to come back from a loss,” Lopoo said. “You really have just a couple of minutes and you have to get your mind set in the right place, and that’s exactly what she did.”

Shkudun dialed back in and finished the game with a 6-0, 6-1 win. She overpowered her opponent and credited her serve as a huge reason for the victory.

“I felt that I could do whatever I want (today),” Shkudun said. “My serve was really good. I felt much more confident on the baseline than yesterday (against Columbia) with this girl. She gave me a lot of opportunities to finish.”

Published on January 30, 2016 at 3:24 pm

Contact Charlie: csdistur@syr.edu | @charliedisturco