Orange Hit the Road to Face FAU, FIU

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Syracuse women's tennis (2-0) heads south to Florida for its first road trip of the spring this weekend. The Orange will face Florida Atlantic on Friday at 4 p.m. before finishing up the weekend Sunday against Florida International at noon.

The Orange had a successful opening to the spring season, winning both of its home matches two weekends ago. Syracuse swept Cornell, 7-0, in the season opener and followed that up with a 6-1 victory over Fordham.

The Syracuse tandem of junior Nelly Knezkova and senior Anastasia Sysoeva were named the ACC Doubles Team of the Week following strong performances against Cornell and Fordham. The duo teamed up for a pair of victories at the No. 1 doubles position, opening their dual match season with a commanding 6-1 victory over Cornell's Martina Marica and Victoria Zhao. The Orange pair then faced Fordham's Nevena Kolarevic and Julianne Nguyen, a doubles team that competed in the 2025 NCAA Championships just a couple of months ago. Knezkova and Sysoeva emerged triumphant, prevailing 6-3 in the match. The doubles pairing was ranked No. 19 in the Nov. 25 ITA Women's Division I Poll.

Flawless Start

Serafima Shastova went 2-0 to open the spring, playing at No. 1 singles versus Cornell and Fordham. Shastova won three set thrillers against Cornell's Sage Loudon and Fordham's Nevena Kolarevic, recording a 5-7, 6-2, 10-7 win over Loudon and a 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 victory over Kolarevic.

Sysoeva, Knezkova and sophomore Monika Wojcik all logged perfect starts to the season in both singles and doubles. Sysoeva went 2-0 playing at No. 2 singles, Knezkova went 2-0 at No. 3 singles and Wojcik went 2-0 at No.4 singles. Wojcik and Shastova teamed up to record a 2-0 record at No. 2 doubles.

Haram Kim went 2-0 at No. 6 singles to open the campaign. Princeton transfer Leena Bennetto went 1-1 at both No. 5 singles and No. 3 doubles, while Constance Levivier went 1-1 at No 3. doubles.

Fall Success
Syracuse stayed active during the fall season, competing in several events. The doubles tandem of Knezkova and Sysoeva reached the championship round of the ITA New England Regional Championships, defeating a pair of ACC opponents from Boston College in the semifinals before falling to Yale in the finals. The duo also represented Syracuse at the ITA East Sectional Championship, placing fourth in the doubles draw.

Last Season's Results
The Orange posted an 11-11 record in dual matches last spring, starting the season with a seven-match winning streak. Syracuse earned notable ACC victories, including a 4-3 home win over Florida State and a 4-3 road victory against Louisville.

In the ACC Tournament, Syracuse made a strong run by defeating Boston College in the opening round and upsetting No. 9 seed Clemson in the second round before falling to Georgia Tech in the third round.

Scouting FAU
Florida Atlantic enters Friday's match with a 1-2 record to start the spring, defeating Georgia Southern and dropping matches against North Florida and Rice. The Owls went 17-2 a year ago, including a 5-0 mark in the AAC. FAU was ranked as high as No. 27 and played to a perfect 15-0 record, finishing the regular season as the nation's only undefeated team. They defeated No. 43 Old Dominion in the first round of the NCAA tournament to record the program's first-ever NCAA tournament win before falling to No. 8 Duke in the second round.

2025 All-AAC junior Panna Bartha returns for the Owls, primarily featuring in the No. 2 singles position. The Owls' No. 1 doubles partnership of Malwina Rowinska and Lara Smejkal is 3-0 to start the season.

Syracuse owns a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series, with the two programs last meeting in 2019. Friday's match will take place at the Kimberly V. Strauss Tennis Center.

Scouting FIU

FIU opens their 2026 dual season this weekend. The Panthers will visit in-state rival Miami on Friday before hosting Syracuse on Sunday. The Panthers went 15-5 in dual matches last spring and earned the top seed in the CUSA Tournament. FIU went on to win its third-consecutive CUSA tournament before falling to No. 25 Stanford in the first round of the NCAA Team Championship.

2024 and 2025 First Team Singles and Doubles All-CUSA senior Katerina Mandelikova is back after posting a 10-3 record at No. 4 singles and a 13-6 record at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles last spring. She was ranked as high as No. 6 in ITA doubles. Alexandra Simeva also returns after a strong 2024-2025 campaign. She finished with a 9-2 record at No. 6 singles as was named to the First Team Singles All-CUSA team. The Panthers added five transfers for the 2025-2026 season, those including Vittoria Baccino from UTSA, Viktorie Hazmukova from Eastern Michigan, Diana Khaydarshina from Idaho, Maria Lucia Araoz-Gosn from UT Arlington and Jelena Vico from Penn State.

Syracuse owns a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series. The two programs last met in 2009. Sunday's match will take place at the PayCargo Tennis Center.

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