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Despite losing both matches of its Florida road trip last weekend, Syracuse tennis brought back some heat from the Sunshine State. It got off to a hot start on Saturday against UMass, snagging the doubles point. But SU fizzled out late.

The Orange (2-3, Atlantic Coast) fell to UMass (3-1, Mid-American) 4-3 Saturday afternoon at home. While Syracuse took the early lead with the doubles point, the Orange were without two of their top players for most of the match. It allowed UMass to battle back for the victory, handing SU its third consecutive loss.

Serafima Shastova and Monika Wojcik took on UMass’s Ella Faessler and Renata Farima in No. 1 doubles, while Nelly Knezkova and Constance Levivier battled it out with Amelia Tye and Amanda De Oliveira at No. 2. To round out the doubles matches, Emma Scaldalai and Leena Bennetto matched up with Madara Markevica and Martina Pavissich.

Anastasia Sysoeva, who had played with Knezkova in all of the season’s matches leading up to Saturday, did not play in doubles or singles. The pairing ranked 15th in the most recent ITA national doubles rankings.

When asked why Sysoeva didn’t play, head coach Younes Limam said they were still figuring it out and her availability for tomorrow’s match is not yet determined.

However, despite Sysoeva’s absence, the Orange won the doubles point behind a dominant performance from Wojcik and Shastova.

With a 4-2 advantage, Wojcik hit a ball into the top of the net, forcing a high, weak return from her opponent. Wojcik settled under the ball and unleashed a powerful overhead smash to firmly give the Orange the momentum they needed to win the set 6-2.

Meanwhile, Knezkova and Levivier battled back and forth with Tye and Oliveira. Syracuse never gave up the lead, and was able to pull away with a 6-3 victory to seal the doubles point and take a 1-0 lead.

The Orange ran into some trouble at No. 3 doubles. After establishing a 2-0 lead, Scaldalai and Bennetto dropped four straight sets. They battled back to 4-4, but it wasn’t enough, as they fell 4-6.

Unfortunately for the Orange, they were without their veteran star, Shastova, for singles. She appeared to tweak her knee and went straight to the trainer’s table after winning in doubles.

When asked about the apparent injury, Limam said that they’d examine it and determine her availability for tomorrow’s match.

Without Shastova and Sysoeva, the Orange rolled out a singles team of Knezkova, Wojcik, Bennetto, Scaldalai, Levivier and Haram Kim.

SU quickly went down in four matches, but came back in remarkable fashion to take the first set in five of six matches.

In particular, Wojcik was unstoppable in her match, winning 6-2, 6-1 and earning the second point of the day for the Orange.

Kim and Levivier lost their first sets, but both picked up a win in their second. However, the momentum was short-lived. Knezkova, Bennetto and Scaldalai all dropped their second sets as UMass started to pick up steam.

As the second sets came to a close, an astounding five matches were headed to a third set, the most in any Syracuse match this season.

The matches dragged on until Kim fell in the third set 3-6, 6-3, 4-6. The win put UMass on the board and was the first sign of trouble for the Orange.

Levivier fell next, 6-7, 7-5 and 4-6, tying the match at two points apiece and putting the Orange on the defensive.

The next match to wrap up was between Scaldalai and Fiona Ao. After a hard-fought clash, Scaldalai couldn’t capitalize off her lead in the third set and lost in a tiebreak 6-8.

“(UMass) had the momentum, then we were able to shift that momentum a little bit,” Limam said. “But unfortunately, we) came up a little bit short.”

The most exciting matches of the day were the last ones. Knezkova dueled with UMass’s Faessler. After smashing one into the back corner to take a commanding lead in her first set, she lost her second set 4-6.

The two went back and forth in a rhythmic dance, forehand to backhand, then back to forehand again. Eventually, something had to give. Knezkova hit a gentle touch just over the net, baiting Faessler into approaching the net before slamming a deft forehand into the backcourt. Knezkova didn’t look back, winning the tiebreak and putting Syracuse one point away from victory.

With the match tied 3-3, all eyes were on the final set between Bennetto and Pavissich. Down 5-3, a loss looked imminent for Bennetto until she stormed back to force a tiebreak. The two traded blows with their teams watching from the sidelines. Every point was met with raucous cheers from the winning side.

Ultimately, Bennetto’s efforts weren’t enough, and she lost to Pavissich, giving the Minutewomen the fourth — and decisive — point.

“I thought she did a tremendous job hanging in there,” Limam said, “Could have turned that match around, but that’s how tennis goes sometimes.”

Published on February 7, 2026 at 4:00 pm
Contact Ben: bglofy@syr.edu