Syracuse wins 1st doubles point since Feb. 28 in victory over Georgia Tech
In Syracuse’s victory over Georgia Tech Friday, SU finally overcame its doubles woes, winning its first doubles point since Feb. 28. Peter Radosh | Asst. Copy Editor
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To say Syracuse has struggled in doubles play against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents would be an understatement.
Going into their 11th ACC match Friday, the Orange had claimed just one doubles point in conference play, which came on Feb. 28 in their sweep of Boston College. Syracuse wasn’t just losing in doubles play either. In six of its first 10 ACC doubles matches, SU had been swept.
But against Georgia Tech Friday, Syracuse’s doubles pairings roared back to life. The Orange (7-11, 3-8 ACC) won their second doubles point of the year against GT (10-12, 4-7 ACC), boosting them to a 4-1 victory. It marked SU’s first ACC win at home this season.
It didn’t take long for Syracuse’s No. 2 pairing of Serafima Shastova and Monika Wojcik to take the lead, but they struggled to pull away. For the first 20 minutes of the match, Shastova and Wojcik traded points with GT’s Taly Licht and Sabritt Dozier.
With the score tied 3-3, Shastova and Wojcik took control. The Orange’s pairing held a 4-3 lead and never looked back, winning the next two points en route to a 6-3 victory.
“Sometimes you need matches where it’s back-and-forth,” SU head coach Younes Limam said. “Getting that momentum gives you a lot of confidence moving forward.”
With Syracuse needing just one more doubles win and leading both ongoing matches, the point seemed assured. But it turned out to be far more dramatic than it initially appeared.
Leena Bennetto and Emma Scaldalai jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the No. 3 doubles match. Despite trailing early, Given Roach and Eleni Karantali fought back to tie it. Roach and Karantali then had all the momentum, and they never let go.
Georgia Tech’s pair outscored Bennetto and Scaldalai 3-1 the rest of the way, winning 6-4 to set up a winner-takes-all match in the No. 1 slot.
Anastasia Sysoeva and Nelly Knezkova led for most of the match but couldn’t break ahead by more than two points. When Alejandra Cruz and Seri Nayuki tied the match at five, an extra game would be needed to decide a winner.
Despite having a 6-5 advantage entering that game, Sysoeva and Knezkova couldn’t close the match out, and a tiebreaker was needed.
Halfway through the tiebreaker, Syracuse finally sealed the victory. Nayuki hit a soft shot to Knezkova, who could barely reach it to return. Still, she made contact and floated her shot over Nayuki’s head, which softly landed onto the court and out of Nayuki’s range.
Wojcik and other teammates covered their mouths in awe.
“It means a lot to see reactions like that,” Knezkova said. “I enjoy it a lot when I can feel the crowd like that.”
That shot gave Syracuse a 4-2 lead, but there was no coming back for Georgia Tech. Sysoeva and Knezkova rolled to a 7-2 tiebreaker win.
As the ACC Tournament draws closer, Syracuse needed to find a way to win doubles points. It finally did on Friday.
“Looking at the doubles matches we lost, we were right there in most of them,” Limam said. “I liked that our team approached today with the mentality of no more being right there.”
