No. 96 Miranda Ramirez and Anna Shkudun both needed to win as Syracuse trailed Louisville, 3-2, in the twilight stages of an opening round Atlantic Coast Conference tournament match.

But before Shkudun could even force a third set, Ramirez lost in a third set, ending the match for her and Syracuse.

No. 14 seed Louisville (14-10, 2-9 ACC) beat No. 11 seed Syracuse (8-14, 5-9), 4-2 in the first round of the ACC tournament in Rome, Georgia, on Wednesday. The Orange dropped the doubles point and won only two singles matches, No. 2 and No. 6.

“Anna was going on a third (set),” SU head coach Younes Limam said, “and I think Miranda lost that last match, 7-6, in the third. A heartbreaking match.”

SU got down in doubles early as Nicole Mitchell and Masha Tritou got clobbered, 6-1, in No. 3 doubles. Shkudun and Dina Hegab held a slim 5-3 lead in No. 2 doubles, but Ramirez and Gabriela Knutson lost, 7-5, in No. 1 singles before Shkudun and Hegab could win.

Already down 1-0, Syracuse needed to pick up a quick win in singles. No. 71 Knutson provided just that, winning straight sets over UofL’s Elle Stokes, 6-3, 6-2.

Knutson’s No. 71 ranking puts her right on the cusp of qualifying for the NCAA singles tournament and there are a lot of matches that affect Knutson’s chances yet to be played, Limam said. With her win today, it will be a waiting game to see if Knutson can move up enough to crack the tournament field.

UofL’s Abbie Pahz picked up a, 6-2, 6-2, over Tritou, but Libi Mesh won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, over Tiffany Huber. With three matches ongoing, the match was knotted at two apiece.

“We started really well in some positions,” Limam said. “Gabby, I think, was the first one to finish. Anna did a great job coming back in that second set.”

After Mesh’s win, the match unraveled for SU. Olivia Boesing beat Hegab, 7-6, 6-4, and Alexandra Mally won a three-set battle in No. 1 singles, beating Ramirez, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6.

Shkudun’s match was abandoned as Syracuse’s ACC tournament ended on the first day.

“You never want to finish your season anyways,” Limam said. “Not just by a close a loss.”

Published on April 26, 2017 at 7:16 pm

Contact Andrew: aegraham@syr.edu | @A_E_Graham