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

All momentum was shifting toward James Madison’s Elena Kraleva as she racked up her fourth consecutive point to give her a 5-4 lead in first singles, putting Miyuka Kimoto on the brink of defeat.

But Kimoto bounced back to take a 6-5 lead. Kraleva’s return serve down then sailed out of play, and a thunderous round of applause erupted from Syracuse’s sideline, clinching the Orange the overall victory.

Kimoto’s win clinched Syracuse (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) a 5-2 win over James Madison (0-4, 0-0 Sun Belt Conference) Saturday. The Orange dominated the Dukes in singles by winning five-of-six matches, yet lost all three doubles matches. However, SU’s overall victory marked the fourth year in a row Younes Limam’s squad is 2-0 to begin its spring campaign.

James Madison came into SU fresh off three straight losses to start its season. Still, its No. 1 doubles team — Ines Oliveira and Sophie Williams — pulled off a stunning victory over North Carolina’s nationally ranked doubles pair on Jan. 12.

The duo continued their doubles dominance in Syracuse on Saturday, as they downed SU’s pairing of Anastasia Sysoeva and Miyuka Kimoto, 6-3. Between this performance and Elena Kraleva and Corinna Rietmann’s 6-0 shutout over Nelly Knezkova and Monika Wojcik, James Madison cruised to a dominant doubles victory.

“I saw quite a bit of things that we need to improve on, there’s no secret about that,” Limam said regarding SU’s doubles defeat. “We need to get off to a better start and make our opponents earn more points.”

Despite Syracuse’s shaky doubles play, the team thrived when it came time for singles, notching five-of-six wins. With her back against the wall, Kimoto rallied to win 7-5 in her second set over Kraleva in the No. 1 singles matchup.

It was a whirlpool of emotions for Kimoto and Kraleva, with SU taking a 4-1 lead before the neck-and-neck finish. In the No. 2 singles affair, SU’s Knezkova beat JMU’s Daria Munteanu in two sets, 6-4 and 6-2.

James Madison’s Oliveira picked up right where she left off in doubles with a win over No. 3 Sysoeva in three sets, handing Syracuse its lone singles defeat of the day. Sysoeva had the edge early after a 6-2 win in the first set, but Oliveira stormed back, winning the next two sets.

But although Oliviera was victorious in both singles and doubles, Sophie Williams fell to Syracuse’s Serafima Shastova in the No. 4 singles matchup in three sets. The tide looked to be turning after Williams won the second set, but Shastova prevailed with a commanding 6-1 win in the final set.

“I’m super proud of how the team stayed resilient and didn’t panic when singles matches were close,” Limam said. “Playing the more important points better than our opponents was the key.”

Syracuse’s Shiori Ito remained unbeaten on the year in singles play with a No. 5 win over Hope Moulin, 6-1 and 6-4. Rounding out the singles action, No. 6 Constance Levivier took down Rietmann, also 6-1 and 6-4.

Due to Levivier not participating in a doubles match, singles were her first taste of JMU. Even after Syracuse fell behind 1-0 due to the doubles loss, Levivier’s confidence in the team didn’t waver, helping the Orange down the Dukes Saturday.

“I think it was very good for our confidence to win those (singles) matches,” Levivier said.

Published on January 25, 2025 at 4:44 pm

sabrod@syr.edu