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Following a week off, Syracuse’s doubles pairing of Viktoriya Kanapatskaya and Ines Fonte were the first to finish their match against North Carolina’s Fiona Crawley and Reilly Tran. But after a comfortable win over Clemson, Kanapatskaya and Fonte struggled against the nation’s top team in the Tar Heels, falling 6-1. Then Polina Kozyreva and Miyuka Kimoto were outlasted 6-3 in the second doubles matchup of the day.

But it ended up being the top matchup to wrap up Friday’s doubles sets as Syracuse’s Sofya Treshcheva and Shiori Ito were tied at four games apiece with North Carolina’s Cameron Morra and Carson Tanguilig before their match was called off. The set was left unfinished with the doubles point already clinched by the Tar Heels.

From the start of the doubles competition to the end of the singles, Syracuse was outclassed by No. 1 North Carolina and dropped its fourth Atlantic Coast Conference match 7-0.

Syracuse continued to struggle on the singles front, barely winning any games against the Tar Heels. Fonte, who recently ended a streak of singles defeats with a statement win against Clemson, lost in straight sets to North Carolina’s Anika Yarlagadda, 6-0 and 6-2, respectively.

Treshcheva and Kozyreva recorded nearly identical scorelines as the two Russian natives fell to Crawley and Tran, both of which are ranked in the top 30 nationally at 28th and 10th, respectively.

Kimoto and Ito continued their consistent production in ACC play, holding their own against North Carolina’s Elizabeth Scotty and Tanguilig. Although Ito fell to Tanguilig in straight sets, Kimoto stunned Scotty, taking the second set from last year’s NCAA Doubles Champion to force a super tiebreaker, which Ito lost 10-5.

Kimoto’s strong play only seems to improve as she has successfully jumped into the role of handling SU’s No. 2 singles matchup on a weekly basis. The Japan native has been one of the lone highlights amidst Syracuse’s turbulent season.

In the No. 1 singles matchup, Kanapatskaya could not accompany Kimoto as the only SU player to gain a set over their opponents. Kanapatskaya lost in straight sets to No. 9 ranked Morra, unable to add to her 3-1 ACC singles record.

Syracuse will stay in North Carolina and travel to Durham on March 20 to play Duke. The Blue Devils are 9-1 on the season and will challenge a Syracuse team that is now 1-4 in conference play.

Published on March 18, 2022 at 9:31 pm

Contact Tyler: trschiff@syr.edu | @theTylerSchiff