The Daily Orange is a nonprofit newsroom that receives no funding from Syracuse University. Consider donating today to support our mission.

Syracuse failed to pick up its third consecutive victory of the season after falling short on Friday against Louisville 4-3 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. 

Syracuse’s Viktoriya Kanapatskaya, Natalie Novotna and Polina Kozyreva shined in respective three-set singles victories. But losses in doubles, as well as the inability of veterans Miranda Ramirez and Guzal Yusupova to pick up wins in singles, meant it wasn’t enough for the Orange to come away with a victory.

SU entered Friday’s matchup coming off a 5-2 win over Boston College and a 7-0 sweep of Army. But Louisville’s No. 1 and No. 2 doubles pairings ended the round with dominant victories, securing the doubles point for the Cardinals.

This dominance carried over to the singles round — as Ramirez and Yusupova both lost in straight-sets — with Ramirez only picking up one game (1-6, 0-6). In her match, Yusupova didn’t pick up any (0-6, 0-6).

Syracuse trailed 3-0, but Novotna recovered from a poor first set to a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Raven Neely to get Syracuse on the board. Kanapatskaya (1-6, 6-2, 6-4) and Kozyreva (6-4, 5-7, 6-3) followed Novotna in similar fashion, erasing the deficit.

A 3-3 deadlock set up an all-important finish in the matchup at the No. 5 singles spot between Syracuse freshman Ines Fonte and Louisville’s Rhea Verma. Along with her counterparts, Fonte also found herself entrenched in a three-set match. She edged Verma in a first-set tiebreak but wasn’t able to maintain her hold on the match after that. Fonte ultimately lost 7-6, 1-6, 2-6. 

Syracuse will look to make adjustments before it travels to South Bend, Indiana to play Notre Dame in two days. 

Published on February 19, 2021 at 5:53 pm

Contact Bryan: brbrush@syr.edu