Like flies, Syracuse singles players dropped to Shervin Saedinia’s left and right.

On one side, No. 1 singles player Masha Kabanova was dragged through a straight-sets defeat at the hands of Cornell’s Suzanne Wright. On the other side, the same fate beheld Jessica Schlosser, who fell, 6-4, 6-4 to Akane Kokubo.

But even as the pieces of Cornell’s 5-2 victory at Drumlins Tennis Center fell into place around Saedinia, she fought shot for shot with Daniela DelPrete, whom Saedinia described as “genuinely disliked” by the Orangewomen.

“(Seeing teammates lose) doesn’t necessarily keep me more focused,” Saedinia said. “It gives me some extra motivation. When I see that happening, I know I definitely have to win. Let’s say they’re close matches. Then my match might matter.“

This time it didn’t, but that didn’t stop Saedinia and DelPrete from exchanging aces, slams and laser-like forehand shots. Saedinia took the first set and DelPrete won the second. By the time the match hit the third set, Kabanova’s match had ended, and Schlosser was minutes from defeat.

Saedinia grabbed a 2-1 lead in the third set before DelPrete rallied to tie in the fourth game on Saedinia’s arcing shot over DelPrete’s head and out.

Saedinia recovered to win the next two games. She secured a victory in the seventh game with a well-executed lob, a powerful forehand and an ace. She took the set and match with another ace in the eighth game, pumping her fist and yelling “yes” as she walked off the court to greet her teammates.

But during her battle with DelPrete, Saedinia failed to notice Kristine Holte lose to Erika Takeuchi on the opposite side of Drumlins. Takeuchi’s victory was Cornell’s fourth, clinching the victory.

“The (matches) right next to me (I can see),” Saedinia said, “but the ones over here I really can’t see. And if I try, it takes away my attention and I lose my focus. I try to cheer on my teammates. That’s why I yell ‘Go Cuse’ or ‘Go Orange’ every 10 minutes or so. I let them know that I’m cheering them up.”

But the encouragement wasn’t enough for the Orangewomen (4-3, 2-1 Big East) to overcome Cornell (5-1), whom SU head coach Mac Gifford said Syracuse used to leave off its schedule because of the Big Red’s talent. Still, SU seemed satisfied that four players stretched their singles matches to three sets.

“You can see how deep they are,” Gifford said. “They have like 15 or 16 players. They’re so deep.”

The Big Red also showed their depth Saturday when they swept Seton Hall, 7-0, one day after the Orangewomen squeaked by the Lady Pirates, 4-3.

While Holte’s loss yesterday sealed SU’s defeat, her victory Friday clinched a win for the Orangewomen. With the match tied at 3, Holte recovered from a 1-6 loss in the first set to win the next two and beat Seton Hall’s Lorell Zamot.

Although the Orangewomen hoped to enact revenge on Cornell, which beat Syracuse 4-3 last season, SU stayed positive after beating the Lady Pirates and showing a strong effort against Cornell.

“It just came down to a couple of points,” Kabanova said. “Everybody was in three sets.

“It’s really impressive. Plus we played on Friday, and everything was really close. It’s unfortunate.”

Published on February 24, 2002 at 12:00 pm