By Rilwan Ameen SYRACUSE (Newhouse Sports Media Center) — The Syracuse Orange (1-7 overall, 1-2 ACC) tennis team picked up their first win of the season on Friday (3/1), defeating the #48 Virginia Tech Hokies (8-4 overall, 1-2 ACC), 5-2.
After seven straight losses against top competition, the Orange got back on track in its opener, capturing the program’s tenth straight win in its annual inaugural home game and its first as a member of the ACC.
Syracuse was propelled to victory by collecting wins in two of three doubles matches and in four of six singles matches.
After the win, interim Head Coach Shelley George was pleased at how her team bounced back after struggling to win close matches earlier in the season.
“We’ve been saying to the girls don’t look at our record, but look at how we’ve been competing,” said George.
“We just needed to get home, we needed our home crowd. With two months on the road, it was tough but we had some really good lessons learned.”
After losing the first doubles, SU rallied back to win the next two to take the first point of the set. Led by Freshman Rhiann Newborn and junior Komal Safdar, they defeated Virginia Tech’s Tea Ivanovic and Sansitha Nandakumar on court three, 8-6, to even the score.
The final outcome in doubles was decided by the successful combination of senior Maddie Kobelt and freshman Valeria Salazar, who refused to go down without a fight, overcoming the Hokies’ Francesca Fusinato and Raluca Mita in the tiebreaker, 8-7 (9-7).
Something George says happened through the combination of senior leadership and freshman talent.
“We’ve been through all this before, so having that calm person who has that experience and believes that they’re going to win just kinds of brings Valeria along with her,” George said.
With the win, the top Syracuse duo remained unbeaten in three ACC matches thus far this season.
In singles play, the Orange came out firing, taking a 2-0 lead in the match following a Kobelt 6-4, 6-3 triumph at first singles over nationally-ranked No. 103 Fusinato.
It was Kobelt's second win in her career against a nationally ranked opponent and she acknowledged it being a personal milestone for her.
“That’s why you play you live for those moments, pick your target whether you serving or returning and just trust yourself, Valeria and I did a good job of that today,” Kobalt said.
It was Kobelt's second win in her career against a nationally ranked opponent and she acknowledged it being a personal milestone for her.
“That’s why you play you live for those moments, pick your target whether you serving or returning and just trust yourself, Valeria and I did a good job of that today,” Kobalt said.
She also improved her personal mark to 3-0 this season in the ACC and has won her last five matches overall, including doubles.
Kobelt alluded to the familiarity of her opponent in aiding her to victory.
“It was nice to see my opponent in doubles, being able to pick up on some of her patterns too, seeing her tendencies and picking up on her weaknesses,” Kobelt said. “I was just able to carry over the energy from the momentum of winning.”
Virginia Tech evened the score at 2-2 by winning the next two match-ups in singles play. The tide turned as Syracuse won the match in the final three singles games, coming out on top for its first-ever ACC win.
Newborn prevailed over the Hokies’ Kelly Williford in a close three-set match which ended in a tie breaker, 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (12-10), clinching the victory for Syracuse.
Note:
Syracuse’s last loss in a home opener came back in 2004
Syracuse was back in action on Saturday, March 1 to face No. 3 Virginia at Drumlins, losing 6-1
The first serve was originally set for 11 a.m., but due to travel issues the start time was pushed back to noon (ET)
Doubles
No. 1 Maddie Kobelt/Valeria Salazar (SU) def. Francesca Fusinato/Raluca Mita (VT) 8-7
No. 2 Ilinca Stoica/Kelly Williford (VT) def. Breanna Bachini/Amanda Rodgers (SU) 8-3
No. 3 Rhiann Newborn/Komal Safdar (SU) def. Tea Ivanovic/Sansitha Nandakumar (VT) 8-6
Order of finish: 2,3,1*
Singles
No. 1 Maddie Kobelt (SU) def. #103 Francesca Fusinato (VT) 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 Amanda Rodgers (SU) def. Ilinca Stoica (VT) 6-4, 7-5
No. 3 Rhiann Newborn (SU) def. Kelly Williford (VT) 6-0, 4-6, 7-6
No. 4 Isel Martinez-Marcos (VT) def. Valeria Salazar (SU) 6-4, 6-3
No. 5 Raluca Mita (VT) def. Breanna Bachini (SU) 6-1, 6-3
No. 6 Komal Safdar (SU) def. Sansitha Nandakumar (VT) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 1,5,4,2,3*,6
Photos from the event are below:
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Photos from the event are below:
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| (c) 2014, Rilwan Ameen Syracuse Legend Floyd Little taking in the action at Drumlins |
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