Tennis

Valeria Salazar leads Syracuse to 6-1 win over Florida State

Valeria Salazar hit a backhand that landed just past the baseline. Yukako Noi rose her finger to signal that the ball had landed out of bounds. With that failed return, Salazar’s lead tightened to 5-4 in the second set.

Salazar then walked over to the bench and sat down. Associate head coach Shelley George came over and sat beside the junior. The two had a mini discussion before the line judge told both players to return to their position for the next game. Salazar took a sip from her bottle and jogged back to the baseline.

“She needed to believe in herself and stick to her game plan that was working out there,” George said when Salazar experienced a few struggles. “Don’t panic and we’ll have good things happen in the end.”

A few plays later, she found herself ahead 40-15, one point away from winning the match. Salazar bent over, threw the ball in the air and hit the ball towards Noi, who reached her racket out. The ball made contact with the racket, arced in the air. Salazar and all the fans at Drumlins Country Club watched as the ball landed a few feet past the baseline.

“Point!” Salazar yelled out, smiling and walking toward the centerline to shake her opponents hand. She had won her singles match 6-3, 6-4 and took home the No. 1 doubles match, securing two points in No. 40 Syracuse’s (10-6, 4-6 Atlantic Coast) 6-1 win over No. 57 Florida State (9-11, 1-9 ACC).



Salazar did not break under pressure. While there were times when Noi made an attempt at a comeback, Salazar stayed strong by keeping her opponent on the balls of her feet all game. Noi was running often, setting up Salazar with quick-and-easy combinations of both forehands and backhands.

As Noi served the ball to Salazar, a quick rally ensued. A backhand by Salazar had Noi run all the way to her right, before Salazar hit another backhand to the opposite corner. While both were returned, Salazar ran up to the middle of the court setting herself up for a forehand that was unreturnable.

Noi took a step forward, put her hands on her hips, and exhaled deeply. She was sweating and breathing heavily often in that game. Salazar meanwhile, stayed focused on the task at hand: Making her opponent run hard on every rally.

Salazar is the team’s No. 2 singles player and is 7-8 on the year. She mentioned that her serve is among her best qualities, as she pointed out that was one of the many reasons for her win in both singles and doubles against Florida State.

“My game plan was to stay low and move her around,” Salazar said about her opponent. “I noticed she would miss (the ball) sometimes or leave the court open.”





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