Syracuse dominates Big East foes Seton Hall, Providence in doubleheader

Aleah Marrow stepped into a ball and smashed it past the Seton Hall players for the final point in a doubles match that completed a sweep for Syracuse en route to its 7-0 win over the Blue Demons.

SU went on to beat Providence 7-0 in the latter part of a doubleheader — a dominating performance against Big East opponents that gets the Orange to .500.

“The biggest thing is that it’s a conference foe, and it’s so important to make sure you continue and establish where we are in the conference, where we need to go with these guys and not have any let-ups,” SU head coach Luke Jensen said.

Syracuse (7-7, 4-1 Big East) dominated both Seton Hall (4-8, 1-1) and Providence (10-5, 0-2) 7-0 as part of a Saturday doubleheader that notched the Orange a pair of conference victories.

It started with a morning match against Seton Hall during which the Orange took home the doubles point thanks to victories in all three of its matches, each by at least four games.

The dominance continued into singles where Syracuse won all six matches. All but one player won in straight sets, with Amanda Rodgers winning in a third set tiebreaker.

Syracuse carried the momentum of the morning match into the second as the Orange repeated the 7-0 result against the Friars. Similar to the first match, SU won all three doubles points, with the only change coming in the lineup.

Against Seton Hall, Marrow and Jimena Wu played the third doubles match. Against Providence, the two were substituted by Breanna Bachini and Alex Aiello. In singles, Brittany Lashway and Bachini were substituted by Komal Safdar and Aiello.

Aiello also won her first career singles match during the Orange’s domination of Providence 6-2, 6-1. It was a long time coming for Aiello.

“I had been injured for all of last semester, so I had been working on my fitness a lot and just practicing a lot, so it’s something I had been working up to,” Aiello said. “It’s just really exciting to get this opportunity.

“It’s something I’ve been working on for a really long time now, and just to finally get it under my belt is a really good feeling.”

Syracuse’s depth was on full display in its doubleheader. Only Sophia Dzulynsky didn’t play for the Orange. Aiello is a new member to the rotation and adds another weapon to a Syracuse roster that has struggled this season with injuries.

“Everyone who plays needs to be the healthiest player, and that’s going to make us win,” Aiello said. “So that’s kind of what my thinking is – who’s healthy should be playing and whoever could win for us, that’s all that matters.”

The doubleheader was a test not only of the body, but also of the mind for the Orange.

Jensen scheduled the doubleheader on purpose, and his team responded with a dominating performance.

“We train and we practice and we work out in the gym so we have good fitness,” Bachini said. “It’s a mental thing out there, so as long as you go out and tell yourself that you’re going to stay out here as long as I need to, to win my match, it’s fine.”