Syracuse tennis head coach Luke Jensen believes winning the first point of a match sets the tone for a win. In the Orange’s past four losses, the team did not once earn the opening point from winning the doubles portion of the match.

Jensen said an overwhelming amount of teams that win the first point of the match, from the doubles play, go on to win the match.

The fact that Syracuse (6-8, 4-2) has failed to win the doubles portion of its last four matches has resulted in the loss of momentum for the team going into the singles play.

The Orange suffered back-to-back losses this weekend, first Saturday against Yale, 4-3, and then Sunday to Brown, 6-1. The losses to the two Ivy League schools marked a four-game losing streak with two games remaining on the Orange’s seven-game road tour.

‘I feel like it’s a killer to lose that first point. It’s a momentum killer,’ Jensen said. ‘Our opponents are putting the ball in play better than we are, they are executing better than we are. Women’s tennis is a baseline dominant. All the ground stroke points are being played better by our opponents, and that’s where we are going wrong.’

To win the doubles point, a team must win at least two of the three doubles matches that precede the singles play at each match.

Maria Vasilyeva and partner Jacquelynn Tang were the only duo to tally a win during the doubles play against Yale (3-3) and Brown (5-4). They defeated Yale’s Silia DeFlippis and Lilian Nguyen, 8-0, and Brown’s Brett Finkelstein and Itsuka Kurihara on Sunday. The Orange lost its other four doubles matches this weekend.

Those losses put Syracuse in a hole it couldn’t crawl out of. Even the 4-3 scoreline at Yale looked closer than the match actually was.

At the end of the match, sophomore Chelsea Jones and the freshman Tang were the last two players on the court. Even if both won their singles matches, it would have been impossible to win the match. Both players won, making the final score against Yale look more respectable.

‘It’s really easy to roll over and not fight when nothing’s on the line,’ Jensen said. ‘It’s easy not to put in your best effort, but Jones was down by a set and battled back. Tang has such determination. They both continued to fight, play with pride. That’s what we are trying to establish in our program.’

Tang collected her ninth singles win of the season against Yale, which ties partner Vasilyeva for team best. It was the second time Jones came from behind in a game to win her match in as many tries.

‘The way we finished the last two matches shows there is a lot of fight in these kids,’ Jensen said. ‘We don’t look like a train wreck. We are together, we are cheering and even when the match is out of our reach points wise, we are fighting to the very end.’

Jensen said working on getting that first point of the game is something he wants the team to accomplish when the team faces defending Big East champion South Florida in its next match on March 16. He plans on helping the team accomplish this goal by having what he calls ‘spring hardcore training,’ which takes place during Syracuse’s Spring Break.

The regiment includes the fine-tuning of each player’s basic skills along with rigorous workouts. Jensen calls this part of the season the fourth quarter, when the team needs to score some last-minute points in the form of wins over South Florida and Notre Dame.

‘Big wins against South Florida and Notre Dame could help us qualify for the NCAA tournament,’ Jensen said. ‘Our training is so much more intense than any other teams, so if we execute and build up momentum, like winning the first point of a match, we can beat teams like that.’

mkgalant@syr.edu

Published on March 3, 2008 at 12:00 pm