Completely in control of her singles match, Simone Kalhorn wound up her left arm and delivered a serve that befuddled her opponent with its spin. The ball got by her opponent for an ace.

Kalhorn pumped her fist in the air and beamed with satisfaction, but it was hardly because of one of her many aces in the match. It was because the right-handed Kalhorn had just served up a left-handed ace.

‘Coach (Luke Jensen) always makes us practice lefty serves because it has a different spin and a different look that our opponents can’t handle,’ Kalhorn said. ‘I was doing really well so I thought I’d try it, and I’d say it worked out.’

The Syracuse tennis team had plenty of time to experiment Sunday as it defeated Providence quickly and in dominant fashion, 7-0. Two days earlier, SU beat Connecticut by a score of 6-1. With the win, the Orange moved to 10-5 on the season and 4-2 in Big East conference play.

Syracuse did not wait long to put the match away. It lost only one game in its three doubles matches, easily taking the doubles point, a point the Orange has won in 13 of its 15 matches this season.

And with a backhand winner from Ashley Spicer, the team took the first three singles matches to win the match. Spicer rebounded from two losses in Florida and a hard-fought loss against Connecticut to win her singles match against Providence, 6-1, 6-0.

Both of their weekend wins came at the Drumlins Tennis Center, where the Orange is 7-1 this season. Kalhorn said the team feels more comfortable playing at home, something it will not do for the remainder of the season.

‘It’s our home court; we’re not going to get beat here,’ Kalhorn said. ‘We put in too much hard work and effort here every day to get beat here.’

Jensen noticed a difference in the players’ mindsets throughout the week on the heels of four straight road games.

‘Being home is completely different,’ Jensen said. ‘You have your own system, you don’t have to drive hours and hours and stay at a hotel, and there’s the familiarity with the courts you practice on every day.’

Two of the areas the team concentrated on during the week were its first serves and overall singles play.

And the Orange dominated the singles play, winning all six matches in straight sets.

‘I loved the singles,’ Jensen said. ‘The footwork and balance were there, and we were playing defense great and going on the offensive in the right situations.’

And the first serves were on point, perhaps as evidenced by a left-handed ace from a right-handed player. To get so many free points out of the first serves was huge, Jensen said.

The team only hopes it took important lessons from the past weekend going forward, as it closes out the season with five tough conference matches, all on the road.

With March Madness fresh on his mind and though satisfied with the play of his team the past weekend, Jensen always pushes his team to get better.

‘We dominated, and that’s great,’ Jensen said. ‘But even when his team’s up by 30, (Syracuse basketball head coach) Jim Boeheim is always hassling you if you didn’t make the right pass or take the right shot.

‘I think no matter how much you dominate, you’re always looking to get bigger, faster and stronger.’

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on March 22, 2009 at 12:00 pm