Syracuse loses to Cal for 2nd defeat of weekend, falls to 1-5 in ACC play
Syracuse tennis came up short once again in a 4-1 loss against California Sunday despite a strong showing from Emma Scaldalai. Dana Kim | Staff Photographer
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The two Atlantic Coast Conference Bay Area schools — California and Stanford — made the trip across the country to play Syracuse tennis this weekend.
In the first matchup, Syracuse fell to Stanford 4-2 Friday. Then, in desperate need to get back in the win column, Syracuse (5-8, 1-5 Atlantic Coast) came up short again against California (8-3, 5-1 Atlantic Coast), losing 4-1 Sunday.
The Orange started yet another match knowing it would be an uphill battle. Syracuse was without star junior Nelly Knezkova for the second straight contest due to illness. As a result, Syracuse decided to run with the same doubles pairings that were seen for the first time against the Cardinal.
California gave Syracuse trouble early. In only 25 minutes, the No. 3 pairing of Naomi Xu and Mille Morek swept Anastasia Sysoeva and Emma Scaldalai, giving the advantage to the Golden Bears.
The No. 1 match proved to be the same story, just with a different beginning. On the first serve of the match, Serafima Shastova smashed a powerful serve, forcing a lob return Monika Wojcik capitalized on with an emphatic spike. Later in the same game, Shastova forced a mistake on another serve, winning the first game for the Orange.
Despite their hot start, not much else went right for Wojcik and Shastova. The third game remained close, with a quick reaction at the net from Shastova to keep the pairing in the game. However, California would win it on the next point. California ultimately took the set 6-2, resulting in Syracuse losing the doubles point for the second time of the weekend.
Leena Bennetto and Constance Levivier also won the first game of the set. Similarly to Court 1, the No. 2 pairing would go down, albeit a bit closer, 6-3.
Orange also battled in singles. After a great performance on Friday, Scaldalai continued to deliver, winning the first set 6-1 while showing incredible composure. The second set didn’t go as smoothly as the first, but Scaldalai still came out victorious with a 6-3 victory.
“It feels good because the past weekend I lost my matches here,” Emma Scaldalai said. “So it brings me some confidence for the next matches.”
On Court 5, Levivier struggled. Despite fighting in some extended rallies, Levivier went down 4-1 in the first set. The gap proved to be insurmountable, as she would lose 6-3, 6-2.
Additionally, Wojcik couldn’t find her footing in singles, losing 6-2, 6-3 to California’s Mao Mushika.
With Syracuse’s back against the wall, Leena Bennetto stepped up. After losing the first set 6-2 to California’s Laura Cilekova, Bennetto turned on the gas. In a contested second set, Bennetto came out on top, 6-4, to force a third set and to keep SU in the match.
“The frustration can get to you very quick, but I’m very proud of her, how resilient she stayed and (how she) weathered the storm,” Syracuse head coach Younes Limam said.
The biggest stories from the match came from the top two courts, as Syracuse had to compete against ITA’s No. 8 singles player Berta Folch and the No. 16 singles player Johanne Svendsen.
“Honestly, we try to block out all the rankings and all that stuff,” Limam said. “I think we try to control what we can control.”
In the first set, it was impossible for either Shastova or Folch to pull ahead in a back and forth match. Throughout the set, the two tied at 1-1, 2-2, 4-4, and 5-5. Towards the end, Shastova won two games in a row to take a 6-5 lead before finishing Folch off in a 7-5 win.
The second set carried the same intensity, but it was Folch who came out victorious with a 6-4 win. Even when Shastova lost a point, she still kept her composure and even showed a smile before heading into a third set.
At the No. 1 position, watching Sysoeva versus Svendsen play was comparable to watching two masters at work. As the set reached its end, both players were hanging on for dear life at 5-5. Sysoeva started to show some frustration after hitting the ball into the net to fall behind in the set. This frustration was heightened after the judge overturned a call, leading to Sysoeva looking at the judge in confusion. Svendsen would take the first set 7-5.
Sysoeva wouldn’t let her first set defeat dictate her play in the second. She jumped out to a 2-0 lead, causing frustration from Svendsen.
Despite her strong start, the set tightened at 4-4. Carrying that momentum, Svendsen won the set and the match for California after a Sysoeva double fault set up match point.
The match proved to be another close loss for the Orange. The ACC woes continue, but it isn’t due to poor play, according to Limam.
“We play one of the toughest schedules in the country, and it’s something we take a lot of pride in,” Coach Limam said. “I feel like we’ve been knocking on the door quite a bit lately.”
