After hitting a double fault on match point and potentially blowing Syracuse’s chances for its first win of the season, Rhiann Newborn slowly paced around the back of the court, knowing the opportunity she might have just let go.

Just four points later, Newborn slammed a forehand winner to win the third-set tiebreak 12-10 and finally give the Orange its first victory of the season after nearly two months of losing.

“Never count Rhiann Newborn out,” interim head coach Shelley George said. “She’s a fighter. She’ll fight down to the very last point, tooth and nail. She can miss a ball and come back and hit a winner the next ball.”

Newborn’s success in singles, and in doubles alongside Komal Safdar, helped carry the Orange (1-8, 1-3 Atlantic Coast) to a 5-2 win over No. 48 Virginia Tech (8-4, 1-2) at Drumlins Country Club on Friday. Wins from Amanda Rodgers in singles, and Maddie Kobelt in singles and doubles with Valeria Salazar also contributed to the 5-2 victory — the Orange’s first of the year and 10th straight in a home opener.

Against Virginia (8-2, 3-0) on Saturday, the nation’s third-ranked team was too much for the Orange. But while the team struggled as a whole against the Cavaliers, Newborn impressed yet again, winning the only match for the team in singles 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in what turned out to be a 6-1 loss.

After Rodgers pulled out her singles match in two tight sets on Friday, the players who had finished their matches stood next to court two to watch the third-set tiebreak between Newborn and Kelly Williford, knowing what would happen if Newborn could pull it out.

The two battled back and forth as Newborn and Williford hit some beautiful shots while also showing signs of nerves. Newborn faced a match point down 7-6 but fought on a long point to eventually get a put-away volley. She had her second match point on her racket at 9-8, but her second double fault of the tiebreak evened the match at 9-9.

“I was like ‘Why did you just double fault? Like really?’” Newborn said. “But I just pushed that aside and kept moving forward.”

At 9-9 Newborn floated her forehand long to give Williford another match point. Williford looked to have the match won as she approached the net, but Newborn hit a beautiful passing shot to keep her in it.

She would earn match point with a great return off the Williford serve. And this time, with the racket on her serve, Newborn closed the deal with a forehand winner.

“In the past, I was being way too negative,” Newborn said. “I would literally give up on most of my shots. This time, what I did was kept fighting, kept running after everything I could and staying positive.”

Newborn would continue her success the very next day against Virginia. While unable to pull out the doubles victory, in singles Newborn defeated the Cavaliers Rachel Pierson. Newborn had faced Person multiple times in juniors before college and had always lost.

“I was a little nervous going into this match,” Newborn said. “But as soon as I started playing I forgot about all the times I’ve lost to her and just played my game.”

Although the Orange would lose big on Saturday after its first win of the year, the weekend was ultimately a success as Rodgers joined Newborn by winning her singles match against the Hokies on Friday.

“Originally I was thinking about being more aggressive today, but after I saw her game style, I was like I need to hit the ball really high,” Rodgers said. “I adjusted and I hit a lot to her backhand.”

With the win on Friday over the Hokies, maybe things are set to turn around for a team that has had a disappointing start to the season.

“We just needed to get home,” George said. “We needed the home crowd. We needed to have the support here. Two months on the road, it was tough. But we had some really good lessons learned and I think that’s where we turned it today.”

Published on March 2, 2014 at 9:50 pm