Luke Jensen saw something he never had before at the Big East tournament: other teams’ players and coaches watching and taking notes on his Syracuse tennis squad’s matches.

Notre Dame, Marquette and other teams all gathered around the Varsity Courts in Tampa, Fla., to watch an energetic, sixth-seeded Syracuse team beat Connecticut, 4-2, Thursday and then go o nto to lose to South Florida, 4-0, and St. John’s, 4-2, to finish in seventh place in the Big East tournament.

SU head coach Jensen said seeing all the coaches and players scouting his team proved what a threat they have become this season, despite the final outcome of the tournament.

The Orange (11-14, 8-7) finished the tournament tied for seventh with Rutgers, a team they defeated, 6-1, on April 5.

During Syracuse’s first-round match against 11th-seeded Connecticut, Thursday, the other Big East teams watching saw something never seen from SU tennis this season: a doubles point loss followed by a comeback match win.

‘We didn’t get defeated this time, we got inspired,’ Jensen said. ‘The most exciting part about the match was the huddle in between the doubles and singles. Instead of defeat, I saw a team that was ready to go and take care of business. They used to look panicked. Now I saw a calm demeanor.’

Throughout the tournament, Jensen kept Simone Kalhorn and Jacquelynn Tang at the No.1 doubles position, even though the pair had a 1-7 record. Against Notre Dame on April 6, Jensen moved Ashley Spicer and Chelsea Jones to the No. 1 spot because he said they had more of an emotional swing to compete with Notre Dame. However, Jensen said during practice, Kalhorn and Tang seemed to be the best duo for the No. 1 spot, during the tournament.

During the four-and-a-half-hour match against the Huskies, junior Maria Vasilyeva and Christina Tan won their fifth doubles match in six tries, 8-3. During the singles portion of the match, Vasilyeva easily defeated the Huskies’ BreAnn Cheung, 6-0, 6-0. She has been a more consistent player for the Orange and has a 12-2 record against Big East opponents.

After advancing past the first round, Syracuse faced another familiar foe, third-seeded South Florida, Friday. South Florida defeated Syracuse for the second time this season, 4-0. The Orange lost to the Bulls, 6-1, March 16.

South Florida swept the doubles play and didn’t falter for the rest of the match, holding Syracuse scoreless. Vasilyeva won her first set, 6-2, and was ahead, 3-1, against the Bulls’ Allyn Mueller before her match was suspended because South Florida already won the match.

The loss to South Florida put the Orange in the fifth-place bracket. On Saturday, Syracuse faced No. 7 seeded St. John’s for the second time this season. On March 29, SU narrowly defeated the Red Storm, 4-3, at home. This time the Red Storm knew what to expect.

‘St. Johns’ was a big upset in my opinion,’ Jensen said. ‘They got a few players healthy that didn’t play us last time. The rest of conference knows we are very energetic and loud, so St. John’s came out with a lot of fire. I admire how they stepped up. They played better.’

St. John’s won the doubles points, and then three of the singles matches to edge SU. Vasilyeva continued her success at the No. 3 position, defeating Emily Barnett, 6-2, 6-0.

‘Maria is Miss Automatic,’ Jensen said. ‘This team is taking the next step. That we have Maria’s point is a great confidence boost. The rest of them have to get the swagger and confidence to execute at that level.’

Despite second-year head coach Jensen’s team finishing two places lower than last year’s squad in the tournament, he didn’t want to use the word ‘disappointed.’

‘I can’t speak for the players, but for me, ‘disappointed’ is a strong word,’ Jensen said. ‘We set a tone for programs to come, and we did some strong things. So many teams were talking about us, our enthusiasm…I’ve yet to see a team here play to its full potential, but it’s something we are going to work on for next year.’

mkgalant@syr.edu

Published on April 21, 2008 at 12:00 pm