TENNIS : Syracuse not selected for NCAA tournament
Syracuse stopped official practices more than a week ago.
A pair of late-season upsets had derailed the team’s NCAA tournament hopes, so when the brackets were released Tuesday night, the Orange’s exclusion came as no surprise.
‘We knew,’ head coach Luke Jensen said. ‘I mean if we’d just maintained that top you know 30, 39 and moved up we’d have been fine, but I don’t think South Florida got in and they’re ranked much higher.’
Instead of watching the 5 p.m. selection show on Tuesday, Jensen’s team (14-6, 6-2 Big East) attended the Cuse Awards. There, Emily Harman (Soliday Award for best student-athlete), Amanda Rodgers (Team MVP) and the entire team (best GPA) were honored by the SU athletic department. And though Tuesday night was a celebratory one, the season as a whole ended in disappointment. An injury epidemic hijacked an historic season that was once on track for Jensen’s first NCAA tournament appearance leading the Orange.
‘I think we all just realized we’re not really going to make the NCAAs this year,’ freshman Amanda Rodgers said.
Conference champion No. 18 Notre Dame is the Big East’s lone representative in the NCAA tournament this year, as No. 42 South Florida, No. 65 Syracuse and No. 66 DePaul all missed the cut. There are 32 conferences in Division-I women’s tennis, all of which receive one automatic berth in the 64-team tournament.
The rest of the field generally consists of the next best 32 teams that did not win their conference. Ranked No. 57 heading into the Big East tournament, the Orange knew it needed a strong run to move out of the NCAA tournament bubble and into the tournament field.
A quarterfinal upset loss against Louisville ended SU’s hopes of a postseason appearance.
‘The results just didn’t end in our favor,’ sophomore Maddie Kobelt said.
Still, the team has regrouped for informal practices ahead of this summer’s United States Tennis Association pro tour. Peruvian walk-on Jimena Wu chose to remain stateside for her first six-week swing on the professional circuit.
Coach Jensen emphasized to her and her teammates that they should always something to look forward to, regardless of how well they do in any match or tournament, Wu said.
‘I wouldn’t say we ever stop as a team,’ Wu said. ‘Even though we’re not in-season anymore, we always have something to prepare for.’
