Syracuse bests St. Johns before dropping second round match to USF

The Syracuse women’s tennis team started off the Big East tournament weekend on a high note, beating the St. Johns Red Storm 4-0 before losing in round two to the University of South Florida, 4-1.

Syracuse dominated singles play on Thursday against the Red Storm. Due to inclement weather, the teams decided to play only as many matches as necessary before a winner was determined. Syracuse managed to win the first four matches straight, thus not requiring freshman Maddie Kobelt nor senior Simone Kalhorn to play their matches at third and fourth singles, respectively.  

Junior co-captain Emily Harman earned her 100^th career victory at first singles, 6-3, 6-1. Harman is in an elite group of less than 30 in Syracuse history to reach this milestone. As a junior, she is set to overtake many more on the list of career wins during the 2012 season.

Head coach Luke Jensen also reached a landmark of his own, garnering victory number 75 in five years of coaching. He now has a career record of 75-39, a program best .658 winning percentage.

Senior Christina Tan earned her 95^th career victory at fifth singles, 6-3, 6-0. Alessondra Parra, junior, also overpowered her Red Storm opponent, 6-0, 6-2. Freshman Aleah Marrow clinched a Syracuse win with her sixth singles victory, 6-4, 6-3. That victory represents Marrow’s 15^th career win, a strong start to her Orange career.

Unfortunately, the Orange couldn’t carry that momentum into the quarterfinal match against second seed USF. The team managed one victory in both singles and doubles play, but ultimately couldn’t upset the Bulls.

Marrow won yet again at sixth singles, this time 6-3, 6-3. This success is her ninth straight win and her sixteenth overall in the 2011 season. Tan and Parra represented the lone doubles victory, 8-2. Parra and Tan each lost their singles matches to the Bulls.

Kobelt won the first set of her third singles match 6-2, but was ultimately the deciding point for the Syracuse loss, losing the second and third sets straight. Kobelt and Harman also fought hard at first doubles, but couldn’t push through, losing 9-7.

This loss ends the Syracuse run in the tournament. The girls will play Rutgers on Saturday in a consolation match to determine the final rankings of the Big East Tournament.