Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

In 2023, Syracuse won its first three conference games, but faltered down the stretch with eight straight losses to finish the year. In 2024, SU’s conference slate started promising with wins over Boston College and Clemson. But since then things have started to go downhill. A loss to Georgia Tech Sunday was the first blemish and a second one came Friday.

Syracuse (7-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) dropped its second straight ACC game after being dominated 6-1 by No. 18 Duke. The Blue Devils controlled every facet of the game and Syracuse had no answer as it fell to 0-14 all-time against Duke.

Each doubles match was controlled by Duke. Emma Jackson and Karolina Berankova took down SU’s Shiori Ito and Emile Elde 6-2. The Blue Devil duo defeated the Orange with ease. Syracuse’s Anastasia Sysoeva and Constance Levivier, also fell to Duke’s Brianna Shvets and Iuliia Bryzgalova 6-2. The only doubles tandem that did not suffer defeat was Miyuka Kimoto and Viktoriya Kanapatskaya, ending their match on top 4-3, before the doubles point was decided.

In singles, the Blue Devils continued their hot streak. Shvets was Duke’s most dominant player, sweeping Ito in straight sets 6-0, 6-0.

Shvets’ doubles partner, Bryzgalova, struggled a little more. Put in the No. 3 role, she faced Kanapatskaya, who proved to be one of SU’s stronger players on the day. Despite her resistance, Bryzgalova took both sets 6-4.

The tightest match of the day came between SU’s Kimoto and Jackson. The first set went to a tie breaker. Tied at 5, Jackson finished strong and took the first set 7-5. The second set provided less of a challenge for the junior as Jackson finished with a 6-3 victory.

Wins from Shavit Kimchi and Katie Codd rounded out Duke’s wins on the day. Placed in the No. 1 and 4 roles, respectively, Kimchi and Codd breezed past SU’s Elde and Polina Kozyrava.

The lone win for SU came courtesy of Sysoevea. Placed in the No. 6 singles spot against Duke’s Berankova, the sophomore transfer won her sets 6-2, 6-4. But SU’s only point slowly became more insignificant as the matches ticked on. With Codd’s win against Kozyreva, the Blue Devils secured a dominant home win against a traveling SU squad.

Published on March 1, 2024 at 11:32 pm