Syracuse heads to Tampa with final chance at Big East championship

Syracuse is heading into its last opportunity to win a Big East tournament championship before heading to a new conference.

The fourth-seeded Orange opens up its final Big East tournament in Tampa, Fla., against 13th-seeded Connecticut at noon on Thursday. Syracuse beat the Huskies 7-0 on March 29. To take home the trophy, though, the Orange will need to win four matches in four days.

With Syracuse departing for the Atlantic Coast Conference in the fall, junior Aleah Marrow said she thinks Syracuse has what it takes to leave its old conference as champions.

“I’ve been on this team, it’s my third year now. It means a lot coming out here, seeing all the Big East teams compete for the title,” Marrow said. “So we know we can win the tournament, but we’ve just got to execute.”

The Orange enters the tournament having won 12 of its past 15 matches since starting the season 0-4. Syracuse went 7-1 in conference play, losing its only match to South Florida, the tournament’s host school.

One Big East team the Orange didn’t play was top-seeded Notre Dame. The Irish didn’t put Syracuse on its schedule, or many Big East teams, for that matter. It finished just 3-0 in conference play, but is ranked 21st in the ITA national rankings after taking on 11 nationally ranked teams this season.

“I think that playing Notre Dame is definitely an extra motivational factor. This is the first time in a while that they’re on our side of the bracket,” sophomore Komal Safdar said. “We’re not as familiar with them because we never play them and they do tend to avoid playing Big East games, but now we’re at the Big East tournament. There’s no avoiding anyone here.”

If the Orange beats the Bulls on Thursday, it will face the winner of fifth-seeded DePaul and 12th-seeded Providence on Friday at noon. Syracuse defeated both teams earlier this season, scoring arguably its most impressive win in a 4-3 defeat on the road against the Blue Demons on Feb. 24.

Since Syracuse lost its first four matches, the Orange almost certainly needs to win the conference tournament to be a part of the NCAA tournament.

The team traveled to Tampa early Tuesday morning to get some practice on the outer courts.

“The biggest thing down here is just getting used to the conditions,” Safdar said. “We’ve been conditioning the entire season, we all know how to play tennis. Coming down here and just getting used to the courts, atmosphere, the humidity, the heat. It’s a different environment.”

Even with the long and hot path that Syracuse faces, the expectations remain high.

“Win the tournament. Bring it back to Syracuse. We work so hard with conditioning on and off the court, physically and mentally.” Marrow said. “I think we deserve it, and we need to go out and get what we deserve. We don’t want to fly back sad.”