STAFF : Syracuse tennis falls to South Florida in season opener

The Syracuse women’s tennis team opened its season with a loss Saturday, falling 5-2 to No. 42 South Florida in Tampa, Fla.

Syracuse (0-1, 0-1 Big East) lost the singles matches 4-2, with its Nos. 1 and 2 singles players both coming up short. Emily Harman, No. 1 in singles, fell in straight sets to Ecaterina Vasenina, 6-2, 6-1. Vasenina is ranked No. 48 in the country in singles. SU’s No. 2 in singles, Alessondra Parra, dropped a three-set match 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to Loreto Alonso Martinez.

The doubles point was won by South Florida (1-0, 1-0) as well. USF won two of the three doubles matches. The Orange’s top doubles team, Harman and Amanda Rodgers, fell 8-3 to Vasenina and Martinez. One bright spot for Syracuse was No. 2 doubles pair Aleah Marrow and Maddie Kobelt. The pair defeated their USF opponents, Fanny Fracassi and Lucie Rey, 9-7.

In singles, No. 3 Kobelt and No. 5 Rodgers won for the Orange. Kobelt defeated South Florida’s Danielle Mills 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 after a highly contested third set, and Rodgers beat the Bulls’ Alessandra Bonte in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.

Rodgers was the only SU freshman to earn a victory. Freshman Jimena Wu also saw action in singles, losing 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to Rey. The only other Orange freshman who competed, Anika Novacek, partnered with Parra in a doubles loss.

SU returns to action next Saturday, taking on Texas Christian in Fort Worth, Texas. 

—Compiled by Kevin Prise, staff writer, kmprisei@syr.edu