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After undergoing surgery for an injury over Christmas break, Zeynep Erman made her spring season debut, her first time playing since the Buffalo Invitational during the 2021 fall season.

On Sunday, Erman paired up for No. 3 doubles play with Viktoriya Kanapatskaya, filling in for Ines Fonte, who suffered an injury during singles play against Buffalo.

Visibly rusty on the court, Erman did what she could as Kanapatskaya picked up most of the slack, hustling from corner to corner to serve strong shots that Niagara’s Jaida Borg and Mercedes Velasco couldn’t handle.

“We were so happy and so ready to see (Erman) back,” head coach Younes Limam said. “It’s been a long process, but we’re very excited and very happy to see her back.”

Nonetheless, Erman frequently played near the net and played her part in replying with soft touch volleys to add to the pair’s dominant performance. The duo won the first five games before dropping the sixth and helped Syracuse to its sixth win of the season, 5-0, over Niagara.

During the seventh and last game of the match, Erman served a powerful shot from the backcourt that Niagara’s players couldn’t catch up to, ending the set — and match — with a 6-1 win.

Assistant coach Maddie Kobelt, who was watching the No. 1 doubles match, turned around and yelled “Good shot, Zeynep!” Kanapatskaya gave Erman a fist pound, and both smiled while shaking hands with the opponents.

In the No. 1 doubles spot, Sofya Treshcheva and Shiori Ito paired up for their third match together, having won their first two matches against Drexel and Buffalo. Their synchronized style of play made it difficult for Niagara’s Megan Gamble and Elena Mayet to keep up, as they attempted to hustle back and keep the ball inbounds, only to watch it fly by.

The duo would give each other a fist pound after each point earned and took an early 2-0 lead, thanks to Ito running toward the net to serve a soft touch volley that stumped the Niagara opponents.

After consistent play, the Orange slipped a bit and allowed their opponents to grab two wins in the set but jumped back to lead 5-2. After winning the eighth and last game of the set, Ito put her arm around Treshcheva, and they smiled their way to a win, giving SU a 2-0 singles play lead and earning the singles point to lead 1-0 in the match overall.

Polina Kozyreva and Miyuka Kimoto won their third doubles match in a row, allowing four lost games in the three matches, and proved to be too much for Niagara’s Erika Gonzalez and Coral Rodriguez.

“Miyuka is very comfortable at the net. She loves playing doubles,” Limam said. “She can complement any partner that she has.”

Kozyreva’s ability to calculate her powerful shots, along with Kimoto’s ability to time her shots near the net, helped the duo jump out to an early 3-0 lead. At one point, Niagara hit the ball high in the air, leading to Kozyreva calculating a high-arcing forehand volley shot. Then after a Niagara opponent and Kimoto went back and forth, Kimoto served a powerful forehand shot that almost made the Niagara opponent fall after trying to keep the ball inbounds. The duo eventually won the match 6-2 and helped sweep the singles play.

In singles play, there was no match for the SU players who asserted their dominance from start to finish.

Kimoto entered her No. 1 singles matchup on a tear, having won four consecutive matches since her lone loss of the season to Penn State. Kimoto’s ability to wind up a high-arcing shot was key against her opponent, Mayet, who had trouble keeping up in Kimoto’s 6-0, 6-2 set wins.

During her No. 2 singles match, Kanapatskaya served electric forehands one after another. Kanapatskaya would win both sets 6-0, beating her opponents 24-1 over the course of the weekend. Kozyreva stayed red-hot in her No. 3 singles match, switching from a smooth forehand to a dynamic hitter to keep her opponent confused, and won 6-2, 6-3 to stay undefeated in singles play on the season.

“Her confidence is at a high, and we all know confidence comes from winning more, and we’re very pleased with where she’s at right now,” Limam said.

In her No. 4 singles match, Ito put away her opponent quickly, powerfully striking the ball and sweeping the match 12-0 to keep her undefeated 7-0 singles play record alive.

Treshcheva sat out of singles play, something Limam wouldn’t address postgame, saying he needed to receive more information from the team’s trainer first.

After sweeping singles play, the Orange beat Niagara 5-0. Syracuse will start Atlantic Coast Conference play on Saturday when it hosts Boston College.

“We know what to expect from our conference; it’s the best conference in the country,” Limam said. “It’ll be a big challenge for us.”

Published on February 13, 2022 at 7:02 pm

Contact Irie: irharris@syr.edu