'Cuse Takes on Sunshine State Road Trip

No. 71 Syracuse at No. 14 Miami
Match Details: Friday, Apr. 15 | 5 p.m. | Neil Schiff Tennis Center
Syracuse: News | Roster | Schedule
Miami: News | Roster | Schedule
Live Stats: Stats

No. 71 Syracuse at No. 35 Florida State
Match Details: Friday, Apr. 17 | 12 p.m. | Scott Speicher Tennis Center
Syracuse: News | Roster | Schedule
Florida State: News | Roster | Schedule
Live Stats: Stats

MIAMI -- Syracuse travels to Florida for a two-match ACC road trip to conclude the regular season this weekend. The No. 71 Orange will face eighth-ranked Miami on Friday evening before traveling northwest to Tallahassee to meet the No. 35 Seminoles. Syracuse is coming off a 4-3 victory over No. 73 Boston College to improve to 9-9 on the season. The Orange remained positioned at No. 71 in this week's ITA rankings.

Friday's match will be the Orange's first road action in nearly a month; their last road trip was an expedition through North Carolina against top-ranked teams North Carolina and Duke. 'Cuse reaped the benefits of its home-dominant schedule this spring as the Orange have racked up eight of their nine victories at the Drumlins Tennis Club. The two matches this weekend will wrap up regular-season action before ACC Tournament play begins the following week.

Junior Polina Kozyreva leads the Orange with 21 total match wins and has kept the momentum of her 9-0 singles start to the season alive. She is followed closely behind by the dynamic freshman duo of Miyuka Kimoto and Shiori Ito, who have 20 victories each. Kimoto boasts nine wins out of the top two singles positions, and Ito has been a mainstay in the nations top doubles pair rankings alongside senior Sofya Treshcheva. Kozyreva and Kimoto have caught fire in doubles competition recently, winning their last three matches together to rise to No. 40 in national doubles rankings.

Miami has been a consistent fixture in the top 15 of the ITA's rankings this season. The Hurricanes are 14-4 with eight ACC wins. No. 31 ranked Dutch junior Daevenia Achong leads the U with 28 total victories across singles and doubles play. Achong competes with No. 50 Eden Richardson to make up the ITA's No. 28 ranked doubles duo. The Orange nearly defeated the Hurricanes last March in a 4-3 match. Viktoriya Kanapatskaya defeated Miami's Isabella Pfennig in straight sets in a battle of freshman All-Americans out of the No. 2 singles position. Polina Kozyreva took down Achong in the fourth spot as well.

Syracuse last triumphed over the Seminoles in 2019. The Orange droppped the doubles point but roared back with four singles victories to clinch the home win. Florida State is led by Australian senior Petra Hule. The No. 7 ranked singles player is a staggering 17-1 out of the No. 1 singles slot, where she has played all of her matches and is 7-1 against nationally-ranked opponents. The Seminoles doubles attack is lead by Hule as well, as she is ranked No. 64 and No. 68 alongside two different teammates.

This weekend's matches wrap up the 2022 regular season as the Orange vie for their 10th and 11th victories. Either total would be the program's fourth-highest mark under Coach Younes Limam. The ACC Tournament will follow this weekend's action, taking place Apr. 21-25 in Rome, Georgia.

Updates about Syracuse Tennis can be found by following Syracuse Women's Tennis on Twitter @Cuse_Tenis and on Instagram @CuseTennis. Fans can follow both matches this weekend by clicking the live stats links above.

Syracuse University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Shiori Ito

Viktoriya Kanapatskaya

Miyuka Kimoto

Polina Kozyreva

Sofya Treshcheva

Related Videos