Emily Harman remembers the feeling following Syracuse’s trouncing of Temple. Walking off the court in the Drumlins Tennis Center, Harman struggled to find a single flaw with the way the team performed. The Orange had dominated the Owls, dropping just one set during the entire match.

‘We played well, all of us around the lineup,’ Harman said. ‘I think that was one of the first matches that we walked away and could say that each of us played really well. I’m looking forward to saying that again.’

It was a win that gave the team confidence heading into the Big East tournament a year ago. A win that confirmed how the team felt all season long. The Orange (8-2) will look to recreate that feeling for the rest of the 2011 season if it can beat Temple (4-4) on Sunday.

And this match couldn’t come at a better time for head coach Luke Jensen and his players.

Jensen knows his team is far removed from that victory last season. In preparing for its trip to Philadelphia, Syracuse needs to overcome its ineffectiveness on the road this season. SU’s aggressive style of play did not work on the road against Maryland and Boston. Syracuse won just one combined match in those two losses.

‘The biggest thing is I want to play on our terms,’ Jensen said. ‘I want to play our type of game, which is very aggressive. They know it and we know it, and I just want to execute it.’

The same execution Jensen preaches has fallen flat at times this season. For Syracuse players, the team’s 8-2 record doesn’t reflect how they feel they have been playing. Players feel as though they have not truly dominated any of their opponents in the way they feel they are capable of dominating.

Syracuse will not be facing the same Temple team from last season Sunday. The Owls’ lineup will likely only feature one player who played in last season’s contest.

This year’s matchup is about making a statement. Temple, like Syracuse, has beaten difficult opponents in Binghamton and Buffalo. The Orange will focus on implementing its own style of play rather than letting its opponent set the tone.

Harman said inconsistency has plagued the Orange all season long.

‘We’re kind of up and down a little bit in terms of the flow of the match,’ Harman said. ‘We get leads and we lose leads. We’re looking for perfection, and we’re very critical of our own game.’

SU now has a chance to get back on track. Syracuse hopes to beat Temple by putting together a complete performance. For Jensen, the losses were simply gut-checks that showed the Orange is not invincible.

They also showed exactly what needs to be worked on, and Jensen has targeted those areas in practice. Freshman Maddie Kobelt, who is undefeated in singles play over her last six matches, expects many of the wrinkles have already vanished from SU’s two previous losses.

‘I’m happy with how we compete, but obviously we have a lot better tennis ahead of us,’ Kobelt said. ‘As a whole, how we compete and hold ourselves on the court, I’m very pleased with that and how we’ve been playing. But there’s definitely room for improvement.’

The match with Temple provides the Orange with its last chance to make that improvement before it takes upon a whole new challenge: a lengthy road trip. SU returns home following its match against Temple for a date with Cornell. But after that, Syracuse will play eight matches away from Drumlins in March and April against some of the best teams on the West Coast.

Harman knows this is going to be a challenge. Sunday’s match against Temple is another chance for SU to get rid of the flaws that have surfaced before the season’s stretch run. This weekend will act as a test run to see if the Orange can handle the gut-check matches to come.

‘Winning on the road is important,’ Harman said. ‘It’s more about beating the person on the opposite side of the net. I have full confidence we’ll do that this weekend.’

adtredin@syr.edu

 

Published on March 2, 2011 at 12:00 pm