Tennis

Syracuse runs out of steam against No. 6 Georgia Tech in 4-3 loss

Courtesy of SU Athletics

Anna Shkudun couldn't muster up enough to win in the third set of her singles match.

As the dark grey sweat stains on Anna Shkudun’s shirt grew, so did her third-set deficit. After 19 hard games against Georgia Tech’s power hitting Johnnise Renaud, Shkudun was visibly drained.

Her breath dogged. The graduate student hustled back and forth down the baseline at Renaud’s whim, with barely enough energy to fire back her lofty, weak returns. As fatigue set in for Shkudun, Renaud saw her opening and made the third set the most decisive.

“The other girl (Renaud) just stepped it up a notch and started being more aggressive,” SU head coach Younes Limam said.

After splitting the first two sets with Renaud, 3-6, 6-4, Shkudun dropped the third set 6-0.

The Orange started the morning down 2-0. Gabriela Knutson and Miranda Ramirez then both picked up singles win and knotted the score at two a piece. But Syracuse (5-8, 2-4 Atlantic Coast) couldn’t get over the hump and pull out a win over No. 6 Georgia Tech (17-2, 7-0) as Maria Tritou couldn’t force a third set and Shkudun’s faltered.



“I thought that Anna and Maria both did a great job of fighting,” Ramirez said. “It just didn’t happen today.”

After Kenya Jones put Tritou in a hole, winning the first set 6-4, the sophomore stepped up her play in the second set. Tritou came roaring out of the gate in the second stanza, asserting herself with a 4-1 lead.

Chance after chance kept passing Tritou, and soon enough, Jones had clawed back and taken the lead 5-4, winning four straight games. Tritou responded once more, making it 5-5, but that was all she could do. Jones won the next two games, winning the No. 4 singles match, 6-4, 7-5.

“Unfortunately,” Limam said, “the other girl (Jones) played the bigger points a little bit better.”

Only two players — Dina Hegab and Shkudun — were left for SU, and both would need to win.

Hegab held strong against Nadia Gizdova in No. 6 singles, but Renaud played antagonist to Shkudun. Early in the match, Shkudun fired a crosscourt volley that Renaud called out. Shkudun began arguing her case with the official, while Renaud could be heard saying, “Stop, stop, stop, stop it,” in Shkudun’s direction. The irritation didn’t cease for Shkudun.

Still recovering from a November knee surgery and not fully in shape — according to Knutson and Limam — Shkudun struggled to traverse the baseline, and Renaud exploited this reality. Renaud would pound Shkudun with cross-court volleys before picking her spot to send a backhander down the opposite line. Other rallies, Renaud go forehand to backhand, making Shkudun change direction and chase every shot, wearing her down.

By the third set, Shkudun was exhausted, and Renaud got aggressive. When Shkudun fired one of her high-arcing returns, Renaud would charge the net and place a shot past Shkudun.

Frustration boiled over for Shkudun when she had a chance to capitalize on one of Renaud’s rare mistakes and buried her kill shot in the net. Shkudun stomped her way to the baseline, berating herself.

“She just has to keep pushing and pushing,” Knutson said of Shkudun, “and she’ll be able to win all the matches she has left.”

After Renaud quickly dispatched Shkudun in the third set, Hegab played on and won. But the victory was muted by the fact SU had already lost. With the match on the line, Syracuse didn’t have enough in the tank.





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