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No. 36 Syracuse (11-9, 4-8 Atlantic Coast) lost its eighth straight match in its regular season finale against Louisville (9-13, 1-11 ACC) 4-3. The Cardinals had not beaten a conference opponent this season before this meeting.

The Orange faced an uphill climb from the start, as Zeynep Erman missed her second straight match due to injury. Down a player, Syracuse was forced to forfeit a singles and doubles match.

Despite the challenge, Syacuse was competitive in both doubles matches. Polina Kozyreva and Miyuka Kimoto fought back from down 4-1 in their doubles match against Louisville’s Jamilah Snells and Cici Xin to tie it at 5-5. Kozyreva and Kimoto completed the comeback by winning their service and breaking Louisville’s to win 7-5.

This win put all the pressure on the No. 1 doubles match between Syracuse’s Viktoriya Kanapatskaya and Shiori Ito, and the Cardinals’ Andrea Di Palma and Rhea Verma. The Orange started off hot with an early 3-1 lead, but Louisville crept back to tie it at 4-4. The tandem of Di Palma and Verma won three out of the remaining four games for the Cardinals, winning 7-5. After SU’s forfeit of No. 3 doubles, the doubles point went to Louisville. It entered singles matches with an early 2-0 lead.

Needing to win four of the five singles matches, the Orange started strong, with four of five players winning the first set. Filling in for Erman was Kanapatskaya, her first game in the No. 1 singles slot. Kanapatskaya was the only Syracuse player who conceded her first set. She ultimately couldn’t turn it around in the second and lost to Di Palma in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

Ito carried her momentum from Friday’s win against Notre Dame, as she comfortably won against Sasha Gorchanyuk 6-3, 6-2. Ines Fonte and Kozyreva similarly each won their matches in straight sets, as Fonte downed Louisville’s Cici Xin 6-0, 6-3, while Kozyreva defeated Tyra Richardson 6-0, 6-2.

Tied three points each, the final point came down to the No. 2 singles match between Kimoto and Verma. Kimoto, who played in the No. 1 singles on Friday, followed the trend of first-set success for the Orange, taking it 6-4. The momentum flipped in favor of Verma and the Cardinals in the second set. Louisville started with an early 2-0 lead, and while Kimoto responded by winning the next game, she ended up falling 6-3.

This allowed for a third set, with the winner taking home the victory. It was also the second straight three-set singles match for Kimoto, the former No. 1 ranked U-18 player in all of Japan, and she fell 6-1 to the Irish in the first. Unfortunately for the Orange, Kimoto could not change the pace from the second set and ultimately lost 6-0 to secure the victory for the Cardinals.

The Orange are back in action at the ACC tournament, seeking their first win since March 5. SU will find out its opponent later today as regular season play wraps up.

Published on April 16, 2023 at 5:39 pm

Contact Brooks: baherb@syr.edu