Orange Prepare For Columbia Challenge

SYRACUSE, N.Y. –. After finding success on the road against Boston University and Boston College last weekend, the Syracuse women's tennis team (6-0) returns home to host Columbia (5-3) on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 11 a.m.

SYRACUSE VS. COLUMBIA BRIEFING
Match Details: Feb. 16, 2025| Syracuse, N.Y. | Drumlins Country Club | 11 a.m.
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Live Streaming: Click Here
Twitter: @cuse_tennis
Instagram: @cusetennis
Syracuse Links: Notes | News | Schedule | Roster
Columbia Links: News | Schedule | Roster

FAN APPRECIATION DAY

Fans in attendance will have the chance to win a jumbo autographed tennis ball signed by the Syracuse tennis team.
Free t-shirt giveaway while supplies last.
Free pizza for everyone in attendance.

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ABOUT THE ORANGE

Syracuse is coming off a 10-11 campaign last spring. The Orange returned four players from last year's team this fall and welcomed two newcomers.
Miyuka Kimoto is back for her senior year with the Orange after racking up 11 doubles and 10 singles victories in the spring. She earned her first ACC Player of the Week Award last March and was tabbed No. 24 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) preseason singles rankings.
Also back as a senior for the Orange is Shiori Ito, who checked in at No. 44 in the ITA's preseason doubles rankings alongside Kimoto. She has won 31 career dual singles contests and to go along with her 27 doubles victories.
Anastasia Sysoeva returns for her second year with 'Cuse as a junior. In her debut campaign last year, she finished with a 12-6 record in singles, which included six wins against ACC opponents.
Another returning junior for the Orange is Constance Levivier, who tallied six wins last spring across singles and doubles.
Syracuse welcomes two fresh faces this fall - Nelly Knezkova and Serafima Shastova. Knezkova earned All-Big West Second Team honors in singles last season at Hawaii, where she played the Nos. 1 and 2 positions. In her one year at Jacksonville State, Shastova won 12 singles contests on her way to earning First Team All-ASUN and ASUN Freshman of the Year honors.
Joining the Orange for the Spring season are two freshmen, Monika Wojcik and Haram Kim.
Head coach Younes Limam returns for his 11th season at the helm of the Orange. Jacqueline Calla is in her second season as an assistant coach.

THE LAST MATCH

'Cuse is coming off a 2-0 road weekend defeating both Boston University and Boston College, 5-2.
The Orange has started five matches by winning the doubles point this season. Shastova and Wojcik paired up for the first time against BC.
Ito is 5-1 on the season in singles and 2-0 at the No.5 spot. All five of her victories have come in straight sets.
Freshman Monika Wojcik holds a 5-0 record for singles after defeating her BU opponent 6-2, 6-3 and receiving a walkover against BC. Wojcik and fellow freshman Haram Kim are the only two players with an undefeated record in singles play.
Syracuse has started off the season 6-0 for the second time in three seasons.

FALL RECAP

Syracuse finished the fall with 39 victories in singles and 22 in doubles.
The Orange totaled 23 victories at Penn Invitational from Sept. 13-15, with 13 wins in singles and 10 in doubles.
At ITA New England Regionals from Oct. 10-15, Shastova won the singles title, with Ito and Knezkova making a run to the quarterfinals in the doubles draw.
Syracuse then compiled a 12-0 record in singles at the Big Red Invite from Oct. 25-27. The Orange went 152-58 in games across the 12 singles wins.
Syracuse played its last full fall event at the UB Indoor Invite from Nov. 1-3, with the Orange concluding the tournament with seven wins in singles and four in doubles.
Shastova finished the fall season with a 13-2 record in singles on her way to a berth at the NCAA Individual Championships.
Ito and Knezkova appeared in the ITA final fall doubles rankings at No.96.
Levivier recorded 10 doubles wins in the fall, one of two Orange players to reach 10+ doubles wins in the fall along with Knezkova.
Knezkova combined for 20 wins in the fall across singles and doubles with Ito adding 17 of her own.

SINGLES SUCCESS

Syracuse is 29-7 in singles in its first six matches.
The Orange are 5-1 at four different positions and 6-0 at one position.
Syracuse has won 33 sets in singles by either a 6-0, 6-1 or 6-2 score. Of Syracuse's 59 winning sets, 56% have come by those scores.
Ito, Levivier, and Shastova have competed at three different singles positions this season.
Knezkova's five wins in singles have come from the Nos. 1 and 2 positions.
Shastova is on a four-game winning streak since her first loss against Cornell in the season opener.

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FRESHMEN CONTRIBUTION

Syracuse freshmen Monika Wojcik and Haram Kim are 11-2 across doubles and singles this season.
Wojcik is 5-0 in singles and has won a pair of sets with a 6-0 score.
Kim made her college debut in the Fordham match, winning at No. 6 singles, 7-5, 6-3.
Wojick was awarded ACC Freshman of the Week on Feb. 4 after competing against Drexel. She won her first ever three-set singles match, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2.

SCOUTING COLUMBIA

Columbia University has a 5-3 overall record so far this season after posting a 17-5 record during the 2023-24 season.
Of their eight matches played, the Lions have defeated their opponents 4-0 three times and 4-1 twice.
Columbia is coming off a loss against Yale with a 2-4 result in the ECAC Championship match.
Syracuse's last home win against Columbia was in 2019.
Freshman Malak Allami competed in the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon Junior Championship in 2023. She became the first Moroccan girl to win a Junior Grand Slam singles match at Wimbledon.
The all-time series is tied at 4-4, but the last time each other met 'Cuse lost 2-5.

UP NEXT
Syracuse is home at Drumlins Country Club to face their first ACC opponent, North Carolina on Friday, Feb. 21 at 3 p.m.

For all the latest news on the Syracuse tennis program, follow /CuseTennis on Facebook, @CuseTennis on Instagram and @Cuse_Tennis on Twitter.