Friday, April 11
Clemson, SC
2:30 pm
Syracuse University
0
at
7
Clemson
Syracuse Goes Down Swinging At #15 Clemson
4/11/2014 8:54:00 PM | Tennis
Senior Maddie Kobelt and freshman Valeria Salazar post victory of 12th-ranked doubles team in country
Results
CLEMSON, S.C. – Senior Maddie Kobelt and freshman Valeria Salazar teamed up to upset the 12th-ranked doubles pairing in the nation, but the nationally-ranked No. 68 Syracuse tennis team was unable to build off that win and fell to No. 15 Clemson 7-0.
Kobelt and Salazar started things off by cruising to an 8-2 win at first doubles against Yana Koroleva and Beatrice Gumulya. It was the first win by a Syracuse duo since current assistant coach Alessondra Parra and Emily Harman topped Yale's 27th ranked tandem of Hanna Yu and Vicky Brook on Feb. 26, 2012.
After Syracuse's (4-12, 4-7 ACC) monumental win at first doubles, Clemson (18-4, 10-1 ACC) took the matches on courts two and three with the deciding game coming down to a tiebreaker. The Orange held commanding leads of 4-1 and 5-2 at the second and third courts, respectively, but was incapable of closing out its opponents.
Juniors Amanda Rodgers and Komal Safdar eventually lost 8-6 at the third spot while freshman Rhiann Newborn and Maria Avgerinos dropped their decision 8-7 (7-1). With the score tied 6-6, Newborn and Avgerinos went ahead 7-6 looking to end the match, but Tristen Dewar and Yuilynn Miao stormed back to tie it up and didn't look back in the tiebreaker.
"Our goal today was to come out firing in doubles," said interim head coach Shelley George. "We had been sluggish in our starts recently, but today we came out very aggressive. We had trouble closing and I felt that we backed off instead of stepping up."
Facing a trio of nationally-ranked individuals, SU didn't have much luck in singles competition, losing all six, including four in straight sets.
"There was no loss of momentum heading into singles and it was one of the best overall fights I've seen from our girls this year," said George. "Clemson is a very good team. I am proud of the way we started and ended the match even though it wasn't the result we wanted."
Newborn nearly took down No. 108 Dewar in three sets after winning the first set 6-1. However, she lost the final two 3-6, 5-7. Avgerinos also went into a third set. She battled back from a first set loss to win the second, but was no match for Miao in the final frame, falling 1-6, 6-4, 1-6.
Kobelt and Rodgers also went up against top opponents, facing No. 46 Koroleva and No. 124 Gumulya.
Syracuse finishes is road trip with a match at No. 32 Georgia Tech on Sunday, April 13 at 11 a.m.
CLEMSON, S.C. – Senior Maddie Kobelt and freshman Valeria Salazar teamed up to upset the 12th-ranked doubles pairing in the nation, but the nationally-ranked No. 68 Syracuse tennis team was unable to build off that win and fell to No. 15 Clemson 7-0.
Kobelt and Salazar started things off by cruising to an 8-2 win at first doubles against Yana Koroleva and Beatrice Gumulya. It was the first win by a Syracuse duo since current assistant coach Alessondra Parra and Emily Harman topped Yale's 27th ranked tandem of Hanna Yu and Vicky Brook on Feb. 26, 2012.
After Syracuse's (4-12, 4-7 ACC) monumental win at first doubles, Clemson (18-4, 10-1 ACC) took the matches on courts two and three with the deciding game coming down to a tiebreaker. The Orange held commanding leads of 4-1 and 5-2 at the second and third courts, respectively, but was incapable of closing out its opponents.
Juniors Amanda Rodgers and Komal Safdar eventually lost 8-6 at the third spot while freshman Rhiann Newborn and Maria Avgerinos dropped their decision 8-7 (7-1). With the score tied 6-6, Newborn and Avgerinos went ahead 7-6 looking to end the match, but Tristen Dewar and Yuilynn Miao stormed back to tie it up and didn't look back in the tiebreaker.
"Our goal today was to come out firing in doubles," said interim head coach Shelley George. "We had been sluggish in our starts recently, but today we came out very aggressive. We had trouble closing and I felt that we backed off instead of stepping up."
Facing a trio of nationally-ranked individuals, SU didn't have much luck in singles competition, losing all six, including four in straight sets.
"There was no loss of momentum heading into singles and it was one of the best overall fights I've seen from our girls this year," said George. "Clemson is a very good team. I am proud of the way we started and ended the match even though it wasn't the result we wanted."
Newborn nearly took down No. 108 Dewar in three sets after winning the first set 6-1. However, she lost the final two 3-6, 5-7. Avgerinos also went into a third set. She battled back from a first set loss to win the second, but was no match for Miao in the final frame, falling 1-6, 6-4, 1-6.
Kobelt and Rodgers also went up against top opponents, facing No. 46 Koroleva and No. 124 Gumulya.
Syracuse finishes is road trip with a match at No. 32 Georgia Tech on Sunday, April 13 at 11 a.m.
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