Syracuse loses 3rd straight, falls 6-1 to Virginia Tech

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In an effort to win its first road game of the season, Syracuse traveled to Blacksburg Sunday to take on Virginia Tech. The Orange won just two away games last season and are 0-4 to start 2024 on the road. Syracuse hasn’t won a match in Blacksburg since March 2, 2018.

After defeating No. 8 NC State 4-3 on March 15, Syracuse lost its last two matchups against Wake Forest and No. 5 Virginia, falling 5-2 in both. Entering Sunday, Virginia Tech came in hot off a 4-3 win over Boston College, which broke its five-game losing streak. It was the Hokies first win since defeating Louisville 4-3 on Feb. 23.

Though both teams have struggled in Atlantic Coast Conference play, No. 37 Syracuse (9-7, 3-6 ACC) couldn’t keep up with Virginia Tech’s fast-paced play, falling 6-1 to the Hokies (8-7, 3-4 ACC).

The Orange haven’t won a doubles point against an ACC team all season, but head coach Younes Limam emphasized playing with a “short memory” no matter the outcome.

Miyuka Kimoto and Polina Kozyreva were the only pair to win in doubles, defeating Virginia Tech’s Katie Andreini and Dariya Radulova 5-4 in the No. 1 doubles spot. Shiori Ito and Viktoriya Kanapatskaya fell to Semra Aksu and Erika Cheng 3-6 while Emilie Elde and Anastasia Sysoeva lost to Charlotte Cartledge and Ozlem Uslu 2-6 in the No. 2 and 3 doubles matchups, respectively.

In the No. 1 singles spot, Uslu defeated No. 48 Kimono, the reigning ACC Player of the Week, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. In No. 2 singles, Andreini dominated Elde in the first set, winning 6-1. While Elde put up a fight in the second, she couldn’t come out on top and lost 6-7. Then Aksu defeated Kanapatskaya 6-4, 6-2 in the No. 3 singles matchup while Kozyreva fell to Tamara Barad Itzhaki 2-6, 1-6 in No. 4 singles.

No. 124 Sysoeva faced Laima Frosch in the No. 5 singles spot and won 6-5, 6-2, securing the Orange’s sole point of the match. To close out the day, Cheng defeated Ito 3-6, 7-6, 1-0 to win the match 6-1.

The Orange have dropped to 3-6 in their ACC campaign, increasing their losing streak to three.