Orange Fly Past Cardinals, 4-3

LOUISVILLE, Ky.- The No. 32 Syracuse women's tennis team won its fourth cosecutive match on Sunday afternoon, defeating Louisville by the final score of 4-3 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

Syracuse (12-6, 6-6 ACC) started off the match by picking up the doubles point and split singles play to come away with the victory over Lousiville (8-14, 0-11 ACC).

No. 28 Gabriela Knutson and Valeria Salazar defeated Ariana Rodriguez and Sena Suswam 6-2 before Nicole Mitchell and Maria Tritou delivered the Orange the doubles point. Mitchell and Tritou took down Abbie Pahz and Olivia Boesing 6-4, putting Syracuse up 1-0 headed into singles play.

Salazar made it 2-0 in favor of Syracuse, defeating Ariana Rodriguez in two straight sets 6-2, 6-3. The Cardinals eventually took a 3-2 lead over the Orange, winning three singles contests in a row before Syracuse could find an answer.

Pahz pulled Louisville within one by beating Tritou 6-4, 6-4. After the Pahz victory for Louisville, the Cardinalls rattled off two more wins, as both Dina Hegab and Knutson went down. Hegab lost to Elle Stokes 6-4, 6-3 while Knutson was defeated 6-4, 7-5 by Suswam.

With a 3-2 deficit, the Orange eventually evened up the match, as freshman Libi Mesh came back to beat Boesing in three sets. After dropping the first set 7-6, Mesh won the next two 6-4, 6-3 to tie the match at three points a piece.

Tied at 3, the match came down to the top singles match between No. 69 Anna Shkudun and Louisville's Jessie Lyn Paul. Like Mesh's singles match, Shkudun was also defeated in the first set before making a come back in the next two to prevail. Paul beat Shkudun 6-4 in the first set before the graduate student could respond with two wins 7-5, 6-3 to deliver Syracuse its fourth straight ACC win.

Below are the full results from the match.

#32 Syracuse 4, Louisville 3

Singles
1. Anna Shkudun (SU) def. Jessie Lynn Paul (LOU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
2. Valeria Salazar (SU) def. Ariana Rodriguez (LOU) 6-2, 6-3
3. Sena Suswam (LOU) def. Gabriela Knutson (SU) 6-4, 7-5
4. Abbie Pahz (LOU) def. Maria Tritou (SU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Elle Stokes (LOU) def. Dina Hegab (SU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Libi Mesh (SU) def. Olivia Boesing (LOU) 6-7, 6-4, 6-3

Doubles
1. Gabriela Knutson/Valeria Salazar (SU) def. Ariana Rodriguez/Sena Suswam (LOU) 6-2
2. Elle Stokes/Jessie Lynn Paul (LOU) def. Dina Hegab/Anna Shkudun (SU) 5-4
3. Nicole Mitchell/Maria Tritou (SU) def. Abbie Pahz/Olivia Boesing (LOU) 6-4

Match Notes:
Syracuse 10-6; National ranking #32
Louisville 8-14
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (2,4,5,3,6,1) T-3:22 A-62

The Orange will stay on the road for their next match against No. 7 Miami on Friday at 11 a.m. before returning home next Sunday for their regular season finale against Virginia Tech.

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Players Mentioned

Dina Hegab

Gabriela Knutson

Libi Mesh

Nicole Mitchell

Valeria Salazar

Anna Shkudun

Maria Tritou

Syracuse University Athletics