No. 67 Syracuse drops 4-3 home match to No. 21 Duke

Rhiann Newborn and Breanna Bachini fell short of a victory with an 8-4 doubles loss. It gave Duke the doubles point, which proved to be crucial to the match’s outcome.

Because singles play was split, the doubles point served as a tiebreaker as No. 67 Syracuse (6-6, 1-5 Atlantic Coast) lost to No. 21 Duke (8-5, 4-0) 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at Drumlins Tennis Center. It was the second loss of the weekend for the Orange, who is now entering an 11-day break from match play.

Syracuse’s only victory in doubles play came from senior Komal Safdar and sophomore Valeria Salazar, who won their match 8-5. Senior Amanda Rodgers and freshman Nicole Mitchell found less success as they lost their match, 8-3.

Rodgers found herself in the win column in singles play with a 6-4, 7-5 victory. Other singles victories came from Newborn, who won 7-5, 6-3, and Safdar, who earned her singles point in a grueling fashion (6-1, 5-7, 10-6 super-tiebreak).

Salazar played a complete match on Sunday against Duke after retiring in her match on Friday. She didn’t find the result she was looking for, though, as she lost 6-2, 6-2.

Despite a strong fight against Miami on Friday, Bachini wasn’t able to win her singles point, losing 6-4, 6-2.

Sophomore Olivia Messineo had not played a match since Feb. 27 against Notre Dame, but she played in the singles lineup on Sunday. She only won one game in a 6-0, 6-1 loss.

Syracuse will attempt to snap its two-match losing streak against North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on March 20.

Compiled by Kevin Pacelli, staff writer, kjpacell@syr.edu