Maybe it wasn’t the storybook ending to the 2002 chapter of the Syracuse tennis team. But with the core returning next season, the book’s ending has yet to be written.

Friday’s 4-0 loss to Boston College in Miami ended Syracuse’s (9-12, 5-3 Big East) quest for a Big East Championship, but the match could have easily turned the other way. According to championship rules, the first team to reach four points wins, regardless of the results of the remaining matches.

Sophomore Daniela Kaluskova and freshman Kristine Bech Holte finally turned the tide in their matches, but it proved fruitless after the Eagles (8-12, 5-1) hit the hard cap of four wins.

‘It’s disappointing because the three matches that were left, we could have won,’ sophomore Marion Charlier said. ‘It makes sense because they need the courts to continue the matches.’

Boston College set the tone early with dominating doubles play. It won two of three matches, and Syracuse never dug itself out of that hole.

‘Doubles point always sets the tone for the match,’ assistant coach Marni Nordstrom said. ‘It would have been nice to win it. We’ll work on our doubles a lot next year.’

SU dominated doubles the following day against Rutgers (14-9, 8-4) to claim fifth place in the Big East. In its final match of the season, SU didn’t want its season to end with a bitter taste.

‘We definitely didn’t want to lose that match,’ Shervin Saedinia said. ‘We had beaten them before and we were confident.’

As for the rest of the tournament, Miami upset No. 20 Notre Dame in the championship, 4-1. Notre Dame had been heavily favored to win but ‘anything can happen in the postseason,’ Nordstrom said.

Anything concerning injuries can and did happen to SU, but that has only given the Orangewomen more confidence heading into next season. Playing through ankle sprains, stomach viruses and sore shoulders the entire year, head coach Mac Gifford had to juggle the lineup every match.

‘It was pretty tough considering we started out the season with 13 players and ended up with seven,’ Saedinia said. ‘But it was a good learning experience and we know what it takes for next year.’

Four of SU’s top six singles players entered the season with a combined 32 matches of experience. Masha Kabanova and Saedinia were the only two returning top six players from last season.

Next year, the Orangewomen will have 628 matches under their belt, and a summer’s worth of training and recuperating should help end the injury problems that plagued SU throughout its season.

‘I’m going to start training and getting myself ready for next fall,’ Saedinia said. ‘We’re not going to have a lot of injures. I have a really good feeling about next year.’

SU did not look at the loss as a conclusion, but rather the beginning of a new book. With all six starters returning next year, the Orangewomen seem in position to compete with the top teams in the Big East.

‘As a team, I think we’ve all improved,’ Charlier said. ‘A lot of people mentally have become stronger, and we’ve come closer outside of the court. We’ve learned how to vary the game more and think out our points.’

Published on April 23, 2002 at 12:00 pm