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Miyuka Kimoto had her back against the wall in her singles match. Down 1-5 in the second set, she was doing everything she could to stay in the match. On set point, Kimoto took a deep breath, but a simple forehand shot didn’t find its way over the net. Duke received its fourth point, putting the match out of reach for Syracuse.

On Friday afternoon, the Orange took on the No. 10 ranked Blue Devils, looking to snap a two-game losing streak. Prior to their last two matches, Syracuse was nearly perfect with an 11-1 record. Two lackluster performances on the road against Clemson and Georgia Tech handed the Orange their second and third loss of the year. However, Duke continued its season-long dominance, achieving four wins in the first four matches to finish with a final score of 6-1. The Blue Devils are now 11-0 all-time against the Orange.

“We need to regain the mindset of refusing to lose, imposing your will on your opponent and digging deeper,” head coach Younes Limam said.

After starting the season and struggling in the No. 1 doubles spot along with Zeynep Erman, Kimoto was then primarily paired with veteran Polina Kozyreva. The two have been solid together, with an overall record of 5-3 in the third doubles spot. Today, the first two games in the doubles competition ended 1-1. From there, Syracuse lost control and it was all Duke.

The Blue Devils showed incredible placement on their groundstrokes and dominated SU at the net. Despite Kimoto and Kozyreva keeping most of the games close and making Duke work for the win, the Blue Devils grabbed a 6-1 victory in dominant fashion. Soon after, Duke won the doubles point.

“We just need to go back to our basics and focus on what made us successful in the past,” Limam said.

On the singles side, Kimoto has had a roller-coaster season. She started off in the No. 1 spot for the Orange, but an early injury forced her to miss some time and she was pushed back to the second spot. Her first two matches at the No. 2 ranking ended in defeat and she slid further back. After two straight defeats, Kimoto was placed in the fourth spot, and has played her last three matches at No. 4. But today, Kimoto made a return to the No. 3 singles match.

“It was based on the matchups,” Limam said on his decision to put Kimoto at third singles, “everyone can move up and down in our roster, and we look for who we think matches up best.”

Kimoto has struggled as of late, winning just two out of her last eight singles matches. Looking to get her first win in the third singles spot, Kimoto faced Duke’s Emma Jackson, who was placed on the All-ACC Third Team last year.

Kimoto started off strong, dominating on her serve and hitting the corners on both her forehands and backhands. Jackson was able to jump out to an early lead, but Kimoto kept crawling back to keep herself in the game.

Jackson was able to get a huge break late into the first set that gave her a commanding lead over Kimoto. She went on to finish the set on her serve, grabbing a 6-3 win.

“We always look for the positives in disappointing results, and I love how we fought until the end in every match,” Limam said.

It seemed as if Kimoto used all of her energy in the first, and Jackson capitalized during the ensuing action. Jackson jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and was in control from there. Kimoto was able to grab one game on her serve, but that was all she could do. Jackson won the battle of the sophomores in dominating fashion, 6-3, 6-1.

Syracuse has now dropped their last three matches, with their toughest test of the season coming against North Carolina on Sunday. The Orange will look to pull off the upset at 10 a.m. in their final home match of the season.

Published on March 24, 2023 at 9:31 pm

Contact Jason: jdmazer@syr.edu