Syracuse’s Miranda Ramirez and Gabriela Knutson were featured in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s latest singles rankings on Wednesday, the first of the spring season. Ramirez went from being unranked last November to No. 67 in the latest release. Knutson dropped five spots to No. 48. Syracuse (4-2, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) did not have a doubles pairing ranked.

Ramirez moves up after starting the spring season 4-2. Both her losses came in three sets, and she beat then-No. 36 Chiara Lommer Jan. 26, helping Syracuse take down then-No. 9 Michigan. Lommer is now ranked 27th.

“I’m moving well, hitting well and I’m on top of my game,” Ramirez said after Syracuse’s loss to Virginia on Feb. 1.

Knutson has dropped three singles matches in a row, including both ACC contests. She started the season with three-straight wins and beat then-No. 3 Kate Fahey of Michigan on Jan. 26. But the next day, against then-No. 19 Silvia Ambrosio, she lost 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. She said both players brought their “A games” that day, and Ambrosio edged it out in the final set. It was a different story against then-No. 32 Meghan Kelley in Syracuse’s first ACC match against Virginia. Knutson had an “up-and-down” performance mentally, which she hasn’t had in years she said. She went up 5-2 in the first set, but dropped the match 7-5, 7-6 (7-3). She failed to bounce back against Boston College, losing to now-No. 76 Yufei Long, who at the time was unranked.

Sophomore Sofya Golubovskaya dropped out of the rankings despite starting the season 5-1. Her lone loss came to then-No. 27 Brienne Minor in straight sets. None of her wins were against ranked opponents at the time. Kylie Wilcox of Boston College, who Golubovskaya beat in three sets last Sunday, is now No. 108.

Golubovskaya also fell out of the doubles rankings with partner Sonya Treshcheva. The sophomore-freshman pair had a successful fall season, including not dropping a set en route to winning the 2018 ITA Northeast Regional Championships. In the last ITA doubles rankings on Nov. 14, they were ranked No. 24. They’ve struggled to start the spring, going 2-1 with three unfinished matches. None of their opponents were ranked at the time.

Syracuse’s two other doubles pairs have also started slow. Transfer Guzal Yusupova and Dina Hegab have dropped three-straight matches and are 2-3 with one unfinished match. Knutson and Ramirez are 4-2 after bouncing back from a loss against Virginia in the ACC-opener with a 7-5 win against BC’s top pair on Sunday. The pair finished last season as the No. 8 pair in the country.

Syracuse heads to Seattle this weekend for the ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championship, kicking off the tournament against No. 7 Pepperdine. The Waves feature the No. 1 and No. 12 doubles pairs in the country. Pepperdine also has the No. 13 and No. 52 singles players, sophomore Evgeniya Levashova and redshirt junior Jessica Failla, respectively.

Published on February 6, 2019 at 3:27 pm

Contact Arabdho: armajumd@syr.edu | @aromajumder