Start your packing, ladies. Miami is just a plane ride away.

Or is it?

The Syracuse tennis team needed a strong performance this weekend in West Point to make a case for a spot in the invite-only Big East tournament. The Orangewomen performed as wished — two 7-0 victories, over Army and conference-rival St. John’s — but their placement in the tournament isn’t guaranteed.

Just don’t tell SU head coach Mac Gifford. Gifford has not yet received formal confirmation from the Big East selection committee, but he isn’t worried.

‘I’ve talked to various people, and they say we’re in,’ Gifford said. ‘We’ve pretty much done what we’ve needed to do. I don’t see anyone else being able to go (over us).’

In fact, Gifford’s so confident Syracuse (10-7, 5-2 Big East) will be selected that he booked a hotel and made travel arrangements. A bold move, but a justified one, Gifford said.

‘I was talking to one of the Big East officials (before the weekend),’ Gifford said. ‘I said to him, ‘Jeez, we’re making it tough for you this year as far who’s going to the tournament.’ He said, ‘Just don’t lose to St. John’s.’ I said, ‘I don’t intend to.’ ”

Nor did his team, which played against the Red Storm wanting to prove itself to the Big East officials and anyone else willing to listen.

‘There was so much at stake at the St. John’s meet,’ freshman Wei-Ming Leong said. ‘It guaranteed a place in the Big East (tournament), so it was just a matter of getting the job done. We wanted to prove something, and getting to Miami was such a great incentive.’

‘They wanted to send out a message to the New York and Big East schools saying, ‘We can play,’ ‘ Gifford said. ‘And they did.’

SU won all nine of its matches against St. John’s on Saturday. Only senior Masha Kabanova failed to win in straight sets, in her 149th victory at Syracuse.

Kabanova got her 150th Sunday against Army, moving into fifth place all time in the SU record books. Her teammates fared equally well against the Black Knights, as the Orangewomen again won all nine matches.

‘We went into both matches thinking they were going to give us a fight,’ Gifford said. ‘And they did. It was very close at the start, but we just crushed them.’

Their opponents’ demise wasn’t because of a lack of talent, though.

‘Both teams are better (than last year),’ Gifford said. ‘I cannot say that strongly enough. Those teams have come along in the last couple of years and they’ve gotten better every year. When you play teams this good, it comes down to who has more fight in the whatever.’

Last weekend, the Orangewomen had plenty of ‘whatever.’ It helped that their opponents played with less at stake in their final weekends.

‘We knew what was at stake (for us),’ Leong said. ‘For them, it didn’t really matter much.’

There was more at stake than Miami for SU. With five of 10 players leaving at the end of the year, Syracuse wanted to end its regular season on a positive note.

Army coach Paul Peck noticed the Orangewomen’s desire and was impressed.

‘(Peck) came up to me after the meet,’ Gifford said. ‘He said, ‘One thing I can hope and expect from the team is that we’ll have more fight than any team we play. And today, it saddens me to say that your team had more fight in them.’ That made me feel extremely proud.’

The weekend victories also provided the Orangewomen with their ninth and 10th wins, surpassing their nine wins from last season. If it goes to Miami, Syracuse will try to expand on its win total. Surprisingly, though, some Orangewomen aren’t as excited about the tournament as one might expect.

‘One of the biggest complaints we have with the Big East tournament is that it comes at a bad time school-wise for Syracuse University,’ Gifford said.

With so many distractions, the Orangewomen may have trouble keeping their focus on their schoolwork, let alone their opponents. That is, if they go to Miami, as Gifford expects.

‘Here we are in Miami, with the fun and sun, the party capital of the world,’ Gifford said. ‘And, along with a tournament, we’ve got finals.’

Published on April 15, 2003 at 12:00 pm