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Boston University (1-1, 0-0 Patriot League) led Syracuse (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) in each of the doubles matches. However, the Orange overcame the deficit to win 6-1 and finish with a perfect record after the opening weekend at Drumlins Country Club.

Boston looked much better than NJIT, Syracuse’s opponent from the day before, from the jump. The pair of Shelly Yaloz and Kaitlin Tan beat the Syracuse duo of Shiori Ito and Polina Kozyreva 6-5 in a match that was by far the closest of any other contest.

A common theme between the Orange and the Terriers today was the fast pace. Syracuse utilized playing both players back to adjust this pace, which it also did in the faster doubles matches from the day prior.

“(We had) great effort, great energy, the score doesn’t reflect the match, as you saw the singles were very close,” Syracuse head coach Younes Limam said.

Although Syracuse won the doubles point, Boston beat the Orange once and almost stole the doubles point away, with Syracuse’s Ines Fonte and Viktoriya Kanapatskaya narrowly hanging on to secure the victory and the point over Victoria Carlsten and Navya Vadlamudi.

The final doubles match wasn’t as close as the other two. It featured Zeynep Erman and Mikyuka Kimoto, who faced Erica Di Battista and Michelle Kleynerman. Di Battista and Kleynerman quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead, but Syracuse closed the match on a 6-0 run to win the match 6-1.

Much of Syracuse’s success came from Kimoto, as her ability to mix up a large range of offensive shots kept BU on its toes. Kimoto served multiple fast, hard shots before a quick change-up that would feature a slow volley that barely dropped over the net.

The singles competition was where the match was ultimately decided. All but one of the singles matches were close, with the exception of Kozyreva’s. She dominated her opponent and swept her two sets by a combined score of 12-0. Boston’s Di Battista took down Ito in a tiebreaker 10-7 after being tied 1-1 after two sets.

There were a total of two tiebreakers out of the six singles matches. Apart from Ito’s showdown with Di Battista, Kanapatskaya and Carlsten allotted extra tennis.

Carlsten, who won the 2022 Patriot League Player of the Year and is a two-time All-Patriot League first team in 2021 and 2022, beat Kanapatskaya in the first set, 6-3. She looked to sweep Kanapatskaya but was unable to in the end.

“I couldn’t be more proud of Viktoriya for coming from behind. Losing a first set is never easy,” Limam said.

Kanapatskaya came roaring back in the second set, winning 6-3 to force a tiebreaker. She later emerged victorious, defeating Carlsten 10-8.

In her single as the new number one, Kimoto took on Yaloz. Although finding herself in a hole down several points in both sets, Kimoto eventually came back to win the set and clinch yet another singles point for SU.

“Same thing with Miyuka,” Limam said. “She was down in both sets, 4-2 in the first set, 4-3 in the second set, and (she) just stayed focused and kept battling. There are going to be the highs and lows, and when you’re at the low, you just have to hang in there.”

Yaloz struggled in the first set. The trainer checked on her twice during the match, both times for a lower-body injury, but she finished the match. Gaining momentum towards the end, Kimoto’s winning point came when she dove to return a volley.

The final singles match of the day came in the number two singles competition between Erman and Kleynerman. It was back and forth throughout the first set, and tensions rose as Erman asked for a second official to “watch the lines” because she was frustrated with how the calls were made.

Erman won in the first set. In the second, much like the first, it was a close affair, as neither player was able to build a convincing enough lead. This time around, Kleynerman argued with the official about a play that resulted out of bounds, saying, “I thought the line was in.”

The match was poised for a thrilling finish until Kleynerman got injured with a lower-body injury, the second injury to Boston alongside Yaloz. Unlike her teammate though, Kleynerman was unable to continue and forfeited the match.

“It was great for us and good time for us to gain some confidence and confidence coming from winning, which we did yesterday and today,” Limam said.

Published on January 22, 2023 at 4:25 pm