STAFF : Syracuse tennis team falls to 0-2 on season with loss to No. 52 TCU

The Syracuse tennis team fell against a nationally ranked opponent on the road for the second straight weekend, losing 6-1 to No. 52 Texas Christian on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Horned Frogs’ (1-0) nationally ranked one-two punch at doubles quickly earned the hosts the doubles point. No. 31 Millie Nichols and Olivia Smith and No. 57 Federica Denti and Kelsey Sundaram defeated the Orange’s (0-2, 0-1 Big East) Emily Harman and Komal Safdar and Maddie Kobelt and Aleah Marrow respectively, each by a score of 8-2.

Syracuse’s No. 3 doubles tandem of Alessondra Parra and Amanda Rodgers also came up on the wrong end of an 8-5 scoreline against Simona Parajova and Stefanie Tan.

Trailing 1-0 entering the singles matches, the SU freshman Safdar was dropped by No. 114 Smith 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 2 singles match. Marrow then lost to TCU’s Denti 6-3, 6-0 at the No. 5 singles and Nichols clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Kobelt in the No. 4 singles match.

With Syracuse trailing 6-0 already, the SU senior Harman did garner a little consolation for the Orange. She defeated Tan, ranked 92nd nationally, 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5) to earn the Orange its lone point. It was her second match in a row against a nationally ranked opponent and her first win on the season.

The Orange resume conference play on Friday in its home opener against St. John’s at Drumlins Tennis Center at 6 p.m.

—Compiled by Jacob Klinger, contributing writer, jmklinge@syr.edu