Leading 5-3 in the second set, Gabriela Knutson suddenly jogged over to her bench after Harvard’s Erica Oosterhout overhand smash went out. Knutson playfully tossed her racket onto the seat, smiled and reached into her blue Babolat bag and pulled out another one.

Knutson’s strings broke during the previous point. She was forced to lob the ball with her busted racket because she had no other choice. Knutson watched helplessly as Oosterhout lined up an overhead return. But the ball went out.

“It was so funny because she just shanked it,” Knutson said. “I was like ‘Ha.’ My lob was super loose.”

The same Knutson smile stayed. Her aggressiveness in both singles and doubles allowed her to overpower slower Harvard opponents. It was also career win No. 162 for Knutson, propelling her into second place in all-time SU wins for combined singles and doubles wins. The SU senior clinched a 6-1 team victory for No. 19 Syracuse’s (6-4, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) over Harvard (6-4) and won her fourth consecutive singles match after dropping her previous three.

“It was just a matter of time and couldn’t be prouder of her and happy for her,” SU head coach Younes Limam said, “She’s always the one who goes the extra mile and does the extra things to be as prepared as she could be.”

Knutson’s day started alongside Miranda Ramirez, similar to how it often has over the last three years. And their match ended similar to how many prior points had been earned on Sunday with Knutson smashing an overhand volley past a diving Natasha Gonzalez. Aggressive net play was something that Syracuse worked on after they lost five-straight doubles points. SU’s top pair saw right away that they could exploit a slower Harvard duo.

Knutson said that a stigma of women’s doubles matches is that it’s played all from the baseline. Knutson’s overhead smash was the pairing’s third match point, and Ramirez’s forehand return on Gonzalez’s serve allowed Knutson to step up toward the net with her arm outstretched. The previous point, Knutson was jammed on her backhand from the corner and it went out. Close to the net, the senior converted.

Three games earlier, Knutson waited patiently at the net and lined up a Harvard defensive lob. Her volley split the Crimson pair, both standing behind the baseline, and bounced high above Gonzalez and Oosterhaut’s outstretched arms.

“The typical women’s doubles is like even having two girls at the baseline which is not what we want to do at all,” Ramirez said. “We want to close, we want to finish at the net, we want to take charge of our points.”

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In singles, up 4-2, Knutson was a point away from breaking the Crimson senior. Oosterhaut fired a serve, and Knutson’s return barely touched the back line. Oosterhaut swung at the ball on a short-hop, and her forehand went out. Afterward, Oosterhaut glared at the line, as Knutson flipped the score card from four to five. Knutson dropped the next two games, but recovered to go up one set, halfway toward her historic win.

During a back-and-forth second set, Knutson was never able to pull away. Some Knutson shots found the back line, some found the sidelines. At times, her aggressiveness got the best of her. Knutson went up 4-2, but lost three-straight points and lost a break opportunity.

Then at 5-3, her racket broke. Knutson said she was nervous because it took her a couple of points to get used to the racket. In some of the most important points late in the match, she said she didn’t “have time” to adjust. At 40-all, match point, her backhand shot was too short.

Five points later, at match point again, Knutson pranced behind the baseline. She took two steps forward and met Oosterhaut’s serve with her racket extended. The next shot by Oosterhaut grazed the top of the net and bounced out. Knutson smiled and walked up to the net. For the 162nd time in her SU career, she shook hands a winner.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Ramirez said.

After the match, when asked what wins No. 161 and 162 meant to her, she was confused. “Really, what does that mean?” she asked. Knutson knew she entered Sunday with 160 wins, but wasn’t aware of where that stood.

Her next question: “Who is number one?” was answered with Jana Strnadova, who has 40 more wins than her.

“It’s OK,” Knutson said, knowing that top spot is almost impossible for her to achieve in her final collegiate season.

After defeating Oosterhaut, she sat down and threw a towel around her neck. In the Syracuse record books, that win will keep her name etched as No. 2 in the future. But on Sunday, it was a clinching singles point, one that won Syracuse its second-straight match.

“At the end of the day…it could be my 140th win, or my 170th,” Knutson said, “but if the team isn’t winning, it doesn’t really matter.”

Published on February 17, 2019 at 4:10 pm

Contact Andrew: [email protected] | @CraneAndrew