Tennis

Previewing Syracuse’s NCAA tournament opening weekend

Max Freund | Staff Photographer

Syracuse posted an 8-14 record last season after making the NCAA tournament the year prior. The Orange is back in the tournament this season.

No. 27 Syracuse (17-7, 8-6 Atlantic Coast) will open the NCAA team tournament against No. 35 Wichita State on Friday, May 11, in Oxford, Mississippi. With a pool of 64 teams, the Orange will need to defeat WSU to play the winner of No. 6 Ole Miss and Missouri State in a round of 32 match on Saturday. If SU wins both matches this weekend, it will advance to the round of 16 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

After coming off a 2017 season with an 8-14 record, the Orange has more than doubled its win total. Syracuse had a winning record in conference for the first time since 2013 and all seven of the teams it lost to are currently ranked in the top 30.

The Orange last played two weeks ago in the ACC tournament, where SU split a pair of matches. After making light work of Pittsburgh, 4-1, SU dropped its second match of the tournament against No. 4 Georgia Tech, 4-2, on April 27. Since then, Syracuse has had 13 days in between matches, its longest layoff this season.

Despite the time off, not much has changed for SU. When the bracket for the NCAA tournament was released on May 3, head coach Younes Limam called several coaches in the American Athletic Conference about WSU. The conversations focused on matchups and tendencies of the Shockers.

Though the coaches sought further information about their first-round opponent, most of the information was not relayed to the players, sophomore Miranda Ramirez said. Throughout the season, players on SU rarely game plan for specific opponents.



“It’s all about preparing ourselves,” Ramirez said, “We’re not changing what we have done all season.”

This season, the Orange has spent little time practicing outdoors. The bulk of its preparation takes place indoors at Drumlins Country Club. With a 2-4 record in outdoor away matches this season, Limam elected to practice solely at the Skytop Tennis Complex the last two weeks to simulate the conditions in Oxford.

While the weather on Monday and Tuesday was “perfect,” Limam said, the wind conditions were a lot worse last week.

“The weather, the heat, the cold, your opponent is dealing with the same,” Limam said, “They just have to keep controlling what they can control.”

Although WSU has the same number of wins as the Orange, the Shockers do not have a top-35 win all season. SU has three, including wins against then-No. 3 Georgia Tech and then-No. 30 Virginia Tech. While WSU has beaten three ranked teams this season, it was swept, 7-0, by then-No. 32 Tulsa and lost two matches to unranked opponents.

While Limam assures that SU is taking the tournament “one match at a time,” Knutson is looking ahead.

“I think we will beat Wichita State,” Knutson said, “and if we don’t, it will be embarrassing.”

If Knutson’s prediction holds true, SU will have to face the winner of Ole Miss and Missouri State on Saturday. The Orange would have under 24 hours to prepare for its next match. While Knutson said the quick turnaround hurt Syracuse against GT, SU will be prepared this time around if they win.

Presuming Ole Miss defeats MSU, the Orange will face a team that overpowers them on paper. Ole Miss boasts two top-80 singles players and its first and second doubles pairings rank in the top 100. For Knutson, the only ranked singles player on Syracuse, a matchup against No. 7 Arianne Hartono is what excites her.

With two matches to win to get there, the goal for Knutson and Ramirez is a Sweet 16 appearance.

“We have to have every single person locked in,” Knutson said, “but we can do it.”





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