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After trailing early in her first set, Polina Kozyreva lost it 3-6. Her opponent, Wake Forest’s Anna Campana, however, wasn’t playing much differently than Kozyreva as she looked to remain in contention during the second set. But she was down 4-1, two lost games away from being swept by Campana. Kozyreva responded with many hard returns that sparked a comeback, which included five straight points to win the set 6-4.

The third and last set was just as even, as the first few points were decided by intense hits, with the winner of each point decided by who hit the harder return between the two. The set ultimately went into a tiebreaker. Kozyreva jumped out to an 8-6 lead, but Campana inched her way back to trail by just one point. The tiebreaker had gone all the way to a 9-8 scoreline, but Kozyreva’s late hustle helped her secure a 10-8 win.

Kozyreva won her first singles match in 26 days, with her prior win against No. 9 Virginia. She prevented Syracuse (7-7, 1-6 Atlantic Coast) from its third straight sweep, giving it its only point in a 6-1 loss to Wake Forest.

“Once she got her rhythm going, she got better,” head coach Younes Limam said. “But more than anything, it’s just staying in it and play every point through.”

Last year, it took 17 matches for Kozyreva to record 10 wins in singles play. Through 12 matches this season, Kozyreva has matched that record and now has a 10-2 record in singles play.

Kozyreva has worked her way up Limam’s singles order throughout the season after starting the season in the No. 5 singles spot. After winning her first four singles matches, she was promoted to the No.4 singles spot, and it only took two more wins for her to move up to the No. 3 spot. After remaining at No. 3 singles for over a month, Kozyreva was able to make her No. 2 singles debut on Friday, where she secured the comeback win, despite Syracuse already out of contention for the win.

“We don’t really look at numbers,” Limam said. “We’re very proud of her fight and her determination to win the match.”

Kozyreva went undefeated in nonconference play but has had moments of struggles once ACC play began, losing her first match of the season to Georgia Tech’s Kylie Bilchev, a former top 150 International Tennis Federation Junior recruit.

Her second loss came against North Carolina’s Reilly Tran, who finished her freshman season last year ranked 122nd in singles play and 36th in doubles play. Compared to other Orange players during ACC play, Kozyreva has recorded a 3-2 record, which stands as the only record above .500, as the team has an overall record of 8-29 against matchups in the ACC.

Published on March 25, 2022 at 10:44 pm

Contact Irie: irharris@syr.edu