Orange Return Home to Host UMass, Boston University

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Syracuse women's tennis (2-2) returns home from its first road trip of this season to host UMass and Boston University. The Orange will face UMass on Saturday at 11 a.m. before finishing up the weekend slate on Sunday, hosting BU at 11 a.m. Both matches will take place at the Drumlins Country Club.

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 Orange battled two tough opponents last weekend in FAU and FIU, with both teams coming off NCAA Tournament runs a season ago. Monika Wojcik picked up a point against FAU, battling back to win 4-6, 6-4, 10-1 at No. 4 singles.

Decorated Duo
The Syracuse tandem of junior Nelly Knezkova and senior Anastasia Sysoeva were named the ACC Doubles Team of the Week on Jan. 20 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 pairing was ranked No. 15 in the Feb. 4 ITA Women's Division I Poll.

Home Sweet Home
Syracuse is undefeated at Drumlins Country Club to start the spring season. 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 Wojcik have all logged perfect records at home in both singles and doubles. Sysoeva is 2-0 playing at No. 2 singles, Knezkova is 2-0 at No. 3 singles and Wojcik is 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 UMass
UMass enters the match with a 2-1 record to start the spring, defeating Bryant and Holy Cross before being narrowly edged by Boston College.The Minutewomen went 12-7 a year ago, including a perfect 4-0 mark in the A-10 play.
UMass finished second in the conference ultimately falling to Richmond in the A-10 Semifinals.

A-10 All-Conference Second Team senior Ella Faessler highlights the returners for UMass. She is 2-0 this spring in singles play, playing at both the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. Amelia Tye, another A-10 All-Conference Second Team recipient, also returns for her junior season. She posted a 12-7 record in singles play last season with a perfect 4-0 record in conference play. The No. 1 doubles partnership of Faessler and Renata Farima is perfect to start the season for UMass.

Syracuse owns a 6-0 advantage in the all-time series, with the two programs last meeting in 2024.

Scouting Boston University
BU has split its opening slate of matches, picking up victories over Rhode Island and Bryant while falling to Harvard and Dartmouth. The Terriers went 13-9 in dual matches last spring, including a 6-1 record in conference play. BU earned the second seed in the Patriot League Tournament and cruised past Colgate and Navy before narrowly defeating Army in the finals to claim the program's 29th Patriot League Championship. The Terriers ultimately fell to No. 11 Texas Tech in the first round of the NCAA Team Championship.

2025 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and First Team All-Patriot League sophomore Gabriella Mikaul leads the returners. Mikaul posted a 15-9 record in singles in her debut campaign. She is a former five-star recruit. Madison Liu earned Second Team All-Patriot League honors as a freshman last season. She went 22-11 overall in singles a season ago and is another former five-star recruit. Rollins transfer Nancy Liu is 2-0 this spring, playing at the No. 2 singles position. She was a Division II All-American last season, ranking as high as No. 7 in singles.

BU owns a narrow 9-8 advantage in the all-time series. Syracuse triumphed 5-2 in the last meeting a season ago.

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