Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

After suffering their first doubles loss of the season, freshmen Miyuka Kimoto and Shiori Ito came into Sunday’s matchup against Cornell looking for redemption. Slated against Jenny Wong and Alexandra Savu, the Orange took an early 2-0 lead in the set.

Kimoto stayed consistent on the net to keep her opponents — who were unaware of the dynamic backhands she delivered on the court — on their toes. But once Wong and Savu got acclimated, the Orange slipped a bit and Cornell tied the count at 2-2.

After a back and forth over the next three games, the duo only led 4-3. Following a quick talk with Syracuse head coach Younes Limam at the game break, the duo erupted with back to back wins to finish the set. Ito’s aggressive forehands made it hard for Cornell to reply with efficient shots, and instead set up Kimoto to finish their opponents immediately from the net.

“They compliment each other. Miyuka is very aggressive on the net and puts a lot of pressure on the returners and Shiori kind of sets her up, and Miyuka is the finisher,” Limam said.

Kimoto and Ito’s dominance helped Syracuse lead the singles play 2-0, eventually sweeping doubles play and earning a 1-0 match lead. Together the duo has improved their record to 3-1 and repeatedly set the tone during matches for their older teammates. The Orange improved their overall record to 3-1, after defeating the Cornell Big Red 6-1, winning five of their six singles matches.

Entering their No. 3 doubles matchup with a 3-0 record, Viktoriya Kanapatskaya and Ines Fonte looked determined to continue their dominance against Cornell’s Valerie Ho and Lan Mi. Both players fed off each other well, as Kanapatskaya hustled from side to side multiple times to keep the ball inbounds.

At one point in the sixth game of the set, while leading the match 3-2, Fonte ran forward to the net to get back into position, only to be struck by a hard hit coming her way. As the ball flew in the air, Fonte quickly shuffled and added a soft touch on her hit to take the lead in the game. Kanapatskaya and Fonte would go on to win that game and two more to secure the match and improve their doubles record to 4-0 on the season.

Unlike Kanapatskaya and Fonte, Sofya Treshcheva and Polina Kozyreva entered their No. 1 doubles matchup eyeing to get back on track after dropping their last two matches. The duo looked to be in sync early in the match, leading 3-0 at one point. After allowing Cornell to come back and tie it at 4-4, the duo would take over with the energetic forehand of Treshcheva to win the match 6-4. Their win improved their doubles record to 2-2 on the season and completed the doubles sweep to give the Orange a 1-0 match lead.

Syracuse replicated its dominance from doubles play in its singles play. In her No. 5 singles matchup, Kozyreva finished her matchup first before anyone else, winning her sets 6-1 and 6-0 to improve her singles record to 4-0. Kozyreva has out-lasted her opponents each match with a combined total of 48-9 games so far in the season.

“Polina has been really committed to her game plan, committed to her shots and just playing with a lot of confidence,” Limam said.

Freshmen players Ito and Kimoto also played well during their singles matches. Kimoto recovered from her first singles loss the previous week against Penn State and went on to win her No. 2 singles sets 6-2 and 6-1 over Cornell’s Maria Adiaconitei. While Ito easily won the first set of the No. 4 singles match, she took-over during her second set, adjusting to her opponent’s quick forehand to come out on top 7-5.

Fonte won the first set of her No. 6 singles match 6-2 but wouldn’t be able to combat her opponent’s game plan as she lost the second set 3-6. In the end, Fonte and her opponent battled multiple back and forth resulting in a tie-breaker, only for Fonte to lose that tie-breaker, giving Cornell’s Wong and her team their only point of the day.

Kanapatskaya combated the strong forehand of Cornell’s Mi during her No. 1 singles match, winning her sets 7-5 and 6-3 to give Syracuse a 5-1 lead. At one point during the fourth game of her first set, Kanapatskaya sent Mi back-to-back backhand volleys to help grab a 3-2 lead.

Treshcheva would finish her match last, but ended up on top to give the Orange a 6-1 win over Cornell. After a solid first set win 6-2, Treshcheva combatted an intense second set from her opponent and as it went down to the wire, she played a soft backhand to win the game and set.

“She used a lot of variety in her match. She wasn’t rushing it as much and I’m very proud of her for bouncing back,” Limam said.

Published on January 30, 2022 at 5:49 pm

Contact Irie: irharris@syr.edu