In Syracuse’s match with Villanova on Wednesday, the Orange pounded the Wildcats into the ground, figuratively and literally.

After freshman Maddie Kobelt won the No. 2 singles match 6-1, 6-2, her opponent, Allison Solberg, dropped to the ground upon returning to the bench. She would remain there, on her back, with her hands over her eyes for nearly 15 minutes.

‘She told (the trainer) she had some back thing after the match,’ Kobelt said. ‘But it didn’t seem like it affected her at all during the match. She was playing well. She had good shots, so I don’t really know. She just died on the ground. I was like… OK.’

Kobelt and junior captain Emily Harman teamed up to win their eighth consecutive match at the No. 1 doubles position, 8-0, as all three doubles pairings won for SU. Their success exemplified the complete dominance Syracuse displayed against Villanova on Wednesday, as the Orange won 7-0. Senior captain Simone Kalhorn and freshman Aleah Marrow teamed up to win the No. 2 doubles match 8-1. Junior Alessondra Parra and freshman Eva Raskiewicz followed suit at the third position.

The Orange dominated in singles play as well, winning each of the six matches in straight sets. Harman snapped a two-match losing streak at the No. 1 singles spot; and all the way down to Eva Raskiewicz at No. 6, Syracuse was just better than the Wildcats.

‘We focused on executing and not making as many errors,’ Kobelt said. ‘And if we did get stuck in a little rut, down in the game by a point or something, we really just focused in and worked through the point.’

Raskiewicz won a match she was not scheduled to play. Marrow had to withdraw from the No. 6 singles position after doubles play due to migraine problems, SU head coach Luke Jensen said.

Though she had a quick turnaround following the doubles victory, Raskiewicz wasn’t fazed by the lack of preparation time.

‘Like Coach says,’ Raskiewicz said, ‘always be prepared to play both matches, so it was pretty normal for me to go out and play.’

She came out ready to play, shutting her opponent out in the first set. The freshman did run into a few problems in the second set, though. Raskiewicz started missing spots, and her opponent began playing more aggressively.

However, she was able to regain focus and prevail with the victory. And Jensen couldn’t be happier for her.

‘It’s a really good thing because she hasn’t had a lot of looks in singles in official capacity,’ Jensen said. ‘The biggest thing is I like tough matches. It hardens you up. It gets you battle tested in a way. So it was nice to see that she pulled it out rather than let it emotionally slip away.’

After back-to-back losses to Southern California and San Diego State, this dominating victory was a much-needed one for Jensen and his squad.

For Kobelt, the week of preparation before starting this stretch of four matches in five days was very beneficial.

‘We all just focused individually on what we needed to get better on, on what we needed to do better in our matches,’ Kobelt said. ‘And I think that just worked overall for everyone.’

Now — after a day off Friday — it faces Army, St. John’s and Rutgers from Friday to Sunday to complete this daunting weekend schedule.

Syracuse hopes to leave its next opponents with a zero on the scoreboard, just like the Wildcats.

‘It’s what you’re going for,’ Jensen said. ‘A complete victory from start to finish. You go out there with a game plan, you execute it, you don’t lose focus.’

sebail01@syr.edu

 

Published on March 23, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1