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On Sunday against Cornell, SU faced adversity in its doubles matches for the first time all season. In two of the three matchups, the Orange fell behind late. Shiori Ito and Viktoriya Kanapatskaya proved to be a microcosm of the day for Syracuse.

The duo raced out to a commanding 4-1 lead and seemed poised to help the Orange grab an early 1-0 lead. Starting in the sixth game of the set, the tables turned in favor of Cornell, led by Alexandra Savu and Michelle Ryndin. Cornell had taken a stranglehold of the match, as the Bears won the next four consecutive games to jump past SU and take a 5-4 lead. All of a sudden, Syracuse was on the ropes.

“We realized that we missed a lot of returns, so we focused on returning first and then (winning the point by being aggressive),” Ito said.

Ito and Kanapatskaya stayed the course, making the comeback and securing the win for Syracuse. SU wrapped up its second week of the season with a 6-1 victory over Cornell, as it remains perfect on the young season. In its past three matches, the Orange has cruised past its opponents, especially in doubles. Although the scoreboard might indicate another easy victory for the Orange, the contests were anything but a walk in the park.

“Today was our most competitive match of the season,” SU head coach Younes Limam said. “I was very pleased with how we responded…And just played the next point.”

With time to catch their breath, Ito, who has been dominant all season long, and Kanapatskaya regrouped. The SU duo returned to their earlier level of play seen over the first few matches of the season.

“You have to expect your opponents to push back,” Limam said. “(You need) to know what they do well…this was a good thing to go through because we’re going to see a lot of situations like this (in the coming weeks).”

After winning two of the next three games, Syracuse and Cornell were locked in a winner-take-all tiebreaker. This time, the Orange weren’t the team that was unraveling on the court. The Bears had lost total control of the match.

Late in the final game, Syracuse was in total command. After another point in favor of SU, one of Cornell’s coaches started yelling at the umpire that one of his players wasn’t ready, as she was apparently moving a ball out of the way.

Feeling the Bears breaking down right in front of their eyes, Ito and Kanapatskaya finished what they had started and prevailed to help secure the doubles point for the Orange.

“We started off really well,” Ito said. “We stayed positive and focused until the end. (I thought) we had good communication with each other.”

Syracuse faced its first major adversity of the season, and it never blinked.

“We talk (all the time) about how we respond when our backs are against the wall,” Limam said.

Published on January 28, 2024 at 4:17 pm