Tennis Stays In Upstate New York For Big Red Invite – Syracuse University Athletics

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Coming off a successful ITA New England Regionals, the Syracuse University women’s tennis team is set to compete in the Big Red Invite this weekend. Cornell will host the event in Ithaca, New York, from Oct. 25-27.

Scouting the Big Red Invite

Cornell will host the Big Red Invite at Reis Tennis Center in Ithaca from Oct. 25-27. The tournament will be contested indoors and play will run from Friday to Sunday.

Four Syracuse players will compete in the tournament – Shiori Ito, Nelly Knezkova, Constance Levivier and Serafima Shastova. Matches will begin at 10 a.m. each day. Doubles will be played first, followed by singles.

The other teams partaking in the tournament are Cornell, Le Moyne, Niagara and Penn State.

About The Orange

Syracuse is coming off a 10-11 campaign in the 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 ITA’s 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.

Head coach Younes Limam returns for his 11th season at the helm of helm of the Orange. Jacqueline Calla is in her second season as an assistant coach.

 

Shastova Wins at ITA New England Regionals

Sophomore Serafima Shastova won the singles title at ITA New England Regionals, Syracuse’s most recent event on Oct. 10-15. Shastova won six singles matches during the event, including a three-set final against Michela Moore of Dartmouth.

With the title, Shastova secured a spot in the singles competition at the NCAA Individual Championships, which Baylor will host from Nov. 19-24.

On the season, Shastova is now 9-1 in singles and has won 11 sets with a score of 6-2 or better.

Syracuse also had a doubles team reach the quarterfinals, with Nelly Knezkova and Shiori Ito winning three matches to reach that round.

Big Red Invite Briefing

Tournament Details: Oct. 25-27 | Ithaca, N.Y. | Reis Tennis Center

Big Red Invite Tournament Page: Click here

Twitter: @CuseTennis

Instagram: @CuseTennis

Syracuse Links: Notes | News | Roster | Schedule

 

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