SU survives late scare, downs BC 4-2 in ACC Tournament opener
No. 16 seed Syracuse beat No. 17 seed Boston College 4-2 in its ACC Tournament opener Tuesday. Courtesy of SU Athletics
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By all standards, Syracuse’s 2025 campaign has been a season of lows. It managed its lowest total regular-season wins (nine) since 2021 (seven), the fewest conference victories in head coach Younes Limam’s 11-year tenure (two) and the lowest Atlantic Coast Conference finish (16th) in program history.
Yet, the beauty of the ACC Tournament is that all the lows go out the window. It’s one match separate from SU’s 12 that came before it. For the Orange, the task is clear: win six matches in six days to clinch their first ACC Championship and their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance.
The first step was against the only team with fewer victories in ACC play — No. 17 seed Boston College. In the ACC Tournament First Round in Cary, North Carolina, No. 16 Seed Syracuse (10-10, 2-10 ACC) vanquished the Eagles (5-18, 1-11 ACC) en route to a 4-2 win. It’s SU’s first conference tournament win since 2019. Next, the Orange will play No. 9 Seed Clemson Wednesday in the second round.
The Orange won the doubles point for the first time in over a month and recovered from losing the first two of the singles matches to win the next two.
From Feb. 21 to April 13, SU’s win percentage dropped from 100% to 47%. Its total of 55 singles and 22 doubles victories both ranked in the bottom two of the ACC. However, the Eagles also fit in that category with 36 singles and 16 doubles wins.
BC and SU have only totaled two doubles points against ACC opponents. Both of those points were a catalyst for a first ACC victory. When the two sides last met, Syracuse took the point after winning the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles.
Boston College’s Nada Dimovska’s short return of Syracuse’s Anastasia Sysoeva’s serve marked SU’s first win in the No. 2 doubles since March 2 against Florida State. More importantly, it meant SU was halfway to advancing.
Backhand met backhand as the Eagles’ Olivia Benton and the Orange’s Serafima Shastova exchanged blows until Shastova faltered. Stationed at the net, Shastova scored two straight points for a 6-5 lead. Benton’s volley by the net tied proceedings at 30 in the 12th game. Yet, back-to-back faults by Muskan Mahajan condemned BC to its 12th lost doubles point in 13 ACC games.
Tuesday, it all seemed to be going Syracuse’s way early in singles. However, as each match progressed, the tide shifted.
Shastova’s long return presented Tola Glowacka with her third straight victory to lead 3-1 in the first set, while Benton crawled back from a 2-0 deficit to lead 3-2 via a wayward Syracuse shot from Nelly Knezkova. Dimovska’s ill-timed backhand at deuce in the fourth game provided temporary relief for the Orange as Shiori Ito registered a 3-1 lead after trailing 1-0.
Glowacka’s underhand left Shastova motionless as it drifted over her right shoulder and stayed in bounds for a 6-1 first-set victory.
Syracuse struck with another ace, this time by Miyuka Kimoto, to secure a first-set victory in the No. 1 singles against Seren Agar. Ito and Sysoeva followed suit before Syracuse’s Monika Wojcik fell to Alex Torre at the No. 6 spot.
Dimovska was the first domino to fall in singles after Ito bageled the second set for a 2-0 Syracuse lead.
Shastova’s slice teetered out of bounds at deuce as BC cut SU’s lead to one. Torre couldn’t eliminate SU’s lead with a backhand, but Benton’s two-set victory over Knezkova picked up where she left off. With three matches left, both teams needed to win two of three singles to advance to the ACC Tournament Second Round.
A Nadia Barteck backhand pushed her lead over Sysoeva to two. On the adjacent courts, Wojcik’s advantage against Torre rose to two, while Kimoto blasted Agar’s backhand out of bounds for a 3-1 lead.
Wojcik’s two-game lead grew to three after Torre pushed her forehand left in the third game. At the same time, Sysoeva’s backhand trimmed Barteck’s edge back to two after dropping the seventh game. Suddenly, it was all going SU’s way.
Kimoto’s set-tying forehand flew by Agar as she raced back onto the court after retrieving her counterpart’s backhand. Wojcik’s advantage became four without reply.
However, consecutive faults from Sysoeva at deuce forced a third set in the No. 4 singles as Wojcik dropped her first game in the No. 6 spot. Although Kimoto scored her first lead of the third set after Agar got underneath the ball, Torre reduced Wojcik’s lead to two at deuce.
Kimoto won games eight and nine to move within one of extending SU’s stay in North Carolina as the attention shifted toward the No. 6 and No. 4 singles.
A long underhand at the net registered Torre’s third straight victory and moved her within one of tying the No. 4 singles, while Barteck’s forehand cruised by Sysoeva for a 2-1 lead. Wojcik’s lead evaporated after her underhand drifted left as Barteck’s lead dropped to one.
Yet, a wayward backhand put Wojcik within one game of surviving a late BC comeback. Three of the next four points evened the score at five, before Torre’s undercooked backhand re-established Wojcik’s lead, which she never relinquished as the Orange survived and advanced.
