Polina Kozyreva Nabs Win in Loss to Wake Forest

The Syracuse tennis team have lost 3 straight matches following a loss to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons

The Orange lost their 3rd match in a row as they lost 6 – 1 against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Drumlins Country Club in Syracuse. Wake Forest was ranked #23 in the nation coming into the match, and is the 3rd ranked opponent in a row that Syracuse has had to face in the last couple weeks.

Syracuse was hoping for a strong showing coming into this match. The Orange are coming off a harsh end to their Spring Break weekend where they suffered two losses and didn’t score a single point on their North Carolina road trip against the UNC Tar Heels and the Duke Blue Devils.

North Carolina came to upstate New York this time as the Demon Deacons came out strong, winning the doubles point in dominant fashion. The duo of Shiori Ito and Sofya Treshcheva fell 6 – 1 in their doubles match to the duo of Anna Brylin and Brooke Killingsworth of Wake Forest. Brylin and Killingsworth are the #8 ranked doubles team in the nation while Ito and Treshcheva are 50 places behind as they sit in the #58 spot in this week’s rankings.

Polina Kozyreva and Miyuka Kimoto were able to get one more game on the board for the Orange but still were defeated 6 – 2 as Wake Forest claimed the first point of the day.

“Thought our energy was a little bit low. In the doubles, (we) could have come in with a little bit more energy,” Coach Younes Limam said about the disappointing start that Syracuse had in the doubles matches.

The Orange didn’t fare much better in the singles matches as most of the Syracuse competitors quickly fell behind in their respective matches. While several of the matches were close, Syracuse was only able to claim one of the singles matches.

Viktoriya Kanapatskaya faced off against top 50 ranked Carolyn Campana in what proved to be a hard-fought match for both participants. Several of the rallies between the two competitors went on for more than 20 hits as the battle went to three sets. The tension of the match escalated in the beginning of the 3rd set when Campana argued with the chair umpire about a close call. The set went back and forth but Campana was able to outlast Kanapatskaya to take the final point of the match.

Kozyreva was the sole singles win of the match for the Orange as she took no time adjusting to her new spot at #2 in the lineup for Syracuse.

“I’m very proud of her fight, I’m very proud of how she was determined all the way through her match but we need that from everyone,“ Coach Limam said about Kozyreva’s effort and performance following the match.

Syracuse continues their stretch of matches against North Carolina teams as they play host to the #2 ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack at Drumlins on Sunday. NC State is undefeated in ACC play this year and are coming off a strong 5-2 win against Boston College. Syracuse is still looking for their 2nd ACC win after claiming their first win against the Clemson Tigers.