Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – The 30th-ranked Virginia Tech women's tennis team fell in a hard-fought 5-2 match against Syracuse on Friday afternoon at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center.
The match started out tightly contested as the Hokies (8-1, 1-1 ACC) and the Orange (9-1, 2-1 ACC) split the first two doubles matches with Tech's Nina Sorkin and Nika Kozar winning it 6-3 on court three. The Cuse took the match at two with the decision coming down to one where Gabriela Knutson and Miranda Ramirez held off the Tech duo of Caroline Daxhelet and Natalie Novotna, 7-5.
"It was a tough match for us," said head coach Terry Ann Zawacki-Woods. "Every match provided us an opportunity and Syracuse did a great job of winning the big points and keeping the pressure on us. I am proud of our fight out there and looking forward to bouncing back as we head to Wake for the next match."
Syracuse took the 3-0 lead winning the first two singles matches, but the Hokies got on the board as Daxhelet claimed the match at the two. She again faced Ramirez as the two went into an exciting first set tiebreak that Daxhelet won 7-6 (14-12). In the second set, Daxhelet rolled 6-1 to get the team point.
The Orange secured the team win a three-set decision on court four where Kozar went toe-to-toe with Anna Shkudun. Kozar gave up the first set 0-6, but powered back to win the second 6-1. In the final set the two kept it close, but Shkudun held on for the 7-5 win.
Katherine Butler picked up the second point for the Hokies at five where she went to three against Libi Mesh. Butler won the opening set 6-3, but Mesh came back in the second to win by the same margin. In the final set, Butler secured it 6-4.
The final match came down to a ranked battle on court one. Syracuse's 18th-ranked Knutson held on to win the first set against Tech's 61st-ranked Novotna 7-6(5). In the second set, Novotna trailed by two early, but rallied to tie it up at 6-6 forcing another tiebreak in which she rolled to the 7-3 win. In the final set, Knutson claimed the Orange's point with the 6-3 win.
Tech will be back on the court Sunday when the Hokies travel to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to face No. 12 Wake Forest in a noon match.
Singles
1. #18 Gabriela Knutson (Cuse) def. #61 Natalie Novotna (VT) 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-3
2. Caroline Daxhelet (VT) def. Miranda Ramirez (Cuse) 7-6(12), 6-1
3. Sofya Golubovskaya (Cuse) def. Elena Cerezo-Codina (VT) 6-0, 6-3
4. Anna Shkudun (Cuse) def. Nika Kozar (VT) 6-0, 1-6, 7-5
5. Katherine Butler (VT) def. Libi Mesh (Cuse) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
6. Dina Hegab (Cuse) def. Nina Sorkin (VT) 6-4, 6-1
Order of finish: 3,6,2,4,5,1
Doubles
1. Knutson/Ramirez (Cuse) def. Daxhelet/Novotna (VT) 7-5
2. Golubovskaya/Shkudun (Cuse) def. Sarah Baron/Cerezo-Codina (VT)
3. Kozar/Sorkin (VT) def. Hegab/Tritou (Cuse) 6-3
Order of finish: 2,3,1