Syracuse University
St. John's
Syracuse Takes Down First BIG EAST Foe
1/30/2010 4:36:07 PM | Tennis
Syracuse, N.Y.-In the second match of a three-match homestand, the Syracuse tennis team beat its first conference rival in a 6-1 victory against St. John's Saturday afternoon at the Drumlins Tennis Center. The Orange demonstrated more dominating play, as they swept doubles competition for the second match in a row and won all but one match in singles play. The win pushes the Orange to 2-0 for the season and 1-0 in the BIG EAST.
Sophomore Emily Harman had another strong day in singles at the No. 1 position, beating St. John's Ira Aleksova with sets resulting in 6-4 and 6-1 scores. Her fellow sophomore on the team, Alessondra Parra, also found success at the No. 2 spot by defeating Ece Firat with counts of 6-1 and 7-5.
Another one of the team's young stars was shining especially bright on the court, as freshman CC Sardinha continued to impress at the No. 6 spot with her scores of 6-1 and 6-3 to win her match against Nakita Austin.
Junior co-captain Christina Tan battled in a tiring, back-and-forth match with Joanna Zwirbulis in the No. 3 position, but eventually lost with a 7-6(2), 6-4 result.
The Orange's other captain, junior Simone Kalhorn, remained perfect this season with her 6-1 and 6-3 sets over the Red Storm's Ksenia Mikaylova.
Junior Eleanor Peters has brought her singles record with the Orange to 2-0, as she took down Jenny Yonkus in the No. 4 match with a 6-2 score in each of their sets.
Doubles action started off with two victories for the Orange, as the pairing of Sardinha and Tan prevailed,8-5, at the No. 2 spot against Aleksova and Austin, while Kalhorn and Peters paired up to defeat Zwirbulis and Mikaylova, 8-4. The No. 1 doubles team for Syracuse, which paired Harman and senior Chelsea Jones, battled back from behind to eventually take the win in their match with a final result of 9-8(4). The other doubles pairings for Syracuse had already locked up the doubles point, but the No. 1 team showed their resiliency with the come-from-behind victory against the Red Storm.
Saturday's victory brings the Orange to 2-0 for the season and notched its first BIG EAST victory for the 2010 season. The team will close out its opening weekend schedule when it takes on another BIG EAST foe, Rutgers, at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning at the Drumlins Tennis Center. Check SUAthletics.com for coverage of Sunday's match.
