Syracuse Tennis Loses First Time at Home to Miami

Story and photos by Thomas Zhou

Syracuse, N.Y-  Three days after it picked up its first ACC win against Pittsburgh, the Syracuse women’s tennis team failed to upset No. 14 Miami at Drumlins Tennis Center on Friday afternoon, The Hurricanes won the match 7-0.

The loss dropped Syracuse to 6-5 (1-4, ACC).  It was the first home loss this season for the Orange who had been 3-0 at Drumlins.

Syracuse lost the doubles point despite a win by Amanda Rodgers and Nicole Mitchell over Monique Albuquerque and Clementina Riobueno(8-4). The 'Canes won the other two sets.


'Canes dominate singles

Miami swept all six singles matches. Valeria Salazar retired with a leg injury in the second set    trailing Miami's Sinead Lohan 6-2, 2-1.

Breanna Bachini lost two 6-4 sets to Riobueno. Rodgers lost to Stephanie Wagner, 6-1. 7-6 (7-2).

The Hurricanes completed the sweep with Yolimar Ogando beating Komal Safdar, Lina Lileikite over Rhiann Newborn, and Albuquerque defeating Mitchell, all in straight sets . 

“The biggest thing that stood out today is playing at that high level for a longer period of time,” Syracuse head coach Younes Limam said. “I think we came up a little bit short. We played really well for a certain time in the match, but we need to do it a little bit longer.”



Fierce doubles competition

While neither the doubles nor the singles gained a point for the Orange, Syracuse showed a tough mentality, exemplified by its first doubles, Salazar and Safdar. 

Salazar started the set with three consecutive aces to set a tone quickly.

Both players had a strong serve performance throughout the doubles. First serves often were aces or led to points on smashes.  

“We were both serving really big,” Safdar said. “I got some momentum going right away. We were setting each other up because of that. We were finishing a lot of the points at the net.”

The 5-foot-6 Safdar and 5-foot-4 Salazar took control against the 5-foot-11 Stephanie Wagner and 5-foot-9 Lina Lileikite, most of the time by passing shots and lobs. 

It looked like they were going to win first of the three doubles matches when they took a 4-2 lead. 
But the Hurricanes duo managed to come back and tied the set score at seven.

By the time tiebreaker began, Syracuse and Miami had each won one of the other two doubles matches. Rodgers and Mitchells' win over Albuquerque and Riobueno was matched by Miami's Lohan and Wendy Zhang's defeat of Bachini and Newborn.


Safdar and Salazar tied the score at five in the tiebreaker after trailing 2-0, but it was Wagner and Lileikite who gained the next two points, took the win, and clinched the doubles point. 

Salazar smashed her racket into her bag after the loss.

“It’s really upsetting,” Salazar said. “I really wanted a win, but sometimes you lose. That is how it is.”


Fighting till the end

Limam said after the match he was proud of the fight of the Orange.

Salazar, who has been bothered by a chronic leg injury for months, continued to play singles after the doubles, before retiring in the second set when she trailed 4-6, 1-2. Salazar had to have her leg massaged by the staff between sets to relax her muscle.

“It is really tough,” Salazar said. “I am not going to lie.”

Rodgers, Bachini amd Newborn, who were still on the court when the team outcome had been decided. With the  Orange trailing 4-0 in the match, they focused on the game itself rather than the results. They let out shouts at their errors and held up fists when winning points.

“We talked a lot about it,” Limam said. “It’s about competing 'til the last point and not paying attention to what the score is. They did that today and we expected that from them.”

Up Next

Syracuse will host Duke to end its three game home stretch. The match is scheduled for noon on Sunday.