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Sonya Treshcheva played doubles alongside either Kim Hansen or Sofya Golubovskaya for six of Syracuse’s 11 matches in the shortened 2020 season. Treshcheva and Golubovskaya were partners during the 2018-19 season, when the duo won the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Northeast Regional Championship in fall 2018 and seven other matches during the season.

But with Hansen leaving the team in 2021 and Golubovskaya missing the season with an injury, Treshcheva needed a new partner.

That partner turned out to be Polina Kozyreva. The sophomore played two matches alongside Treshcheva in 2020, winning one and losing one as they adjusted to a new doubles pairing.

Kozyreva and Treshcheva developed into a staple for Syracuse’s doubles lineup in 2021 despite winning just four matches together over the course of the season. The pair played 17 of 18 matches together, switching between the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles spot alongside another newly formed pair, transfer Natalie Novotna and freshman Viktoriya Kanapatskaya.

Head coach Younes Limam utilized 13 different doubles pairings this season compared to just eight in 2020. Syracuse likes to change up its doubles pairings to try and gain a matchup advantage, Limam said April 9. But in 2021, Kozyreva and Treshcheva remained a constant for the Orange.

At least three of SU’s nine players are graduating, meaning Limam will be forced to the drawing board to create doubles pairs. Graduate students Miranda Ramirez, Novotna and Guzal Yusupova all played doubles in at least 13 games, with Novotna playing in all 18. Kozyreva and Treshcheva are the only established doubles pair who are both returning.

“They’re solid. We like them playing together,” Limam said on April 9, after SU’s 6-1 loss to No. 1 North Carolina.

Despite COVID-19 restrictions and new Drumlins Country Club training protocols for SU, the pair was still able to practice together this offseason. Kozyreva and Treshcheva performed drills that included playing out “practice points,” where coaches fed balls and athletes had to execute plays that’d appear in certain match situations. The walk-through included scenarios simulating an opponent being at the net or on the baseline, among others.

The match-like scenarios helped the two understand their roles on the court and how they complemented the other’s game, Treshcheva said.

Kozyreva is “really good on the baseline,” her partner said. Treshcheva understands that the sophomore prefers to dictate rallies from the baseline because of the power that Kozyreva can hit with.

Treshcheva, on the other hand, centers her game around her presence at the net. She frequently uses her forehand and slice, especially at the net, saying that she plays better when volleying, or as she calls it, “poaching.”

“I think it really works (well) together,” Treshcheva said of the two’s varying styles.

Despite an up-and-down season for both the pair and the Orange — who finished 7-10 during the regular season — both will be upperclassmen next year with a full season of playing alongside the other to lean on.

“We always have meetings together,” Treshcheva said of the two’s chemistry. “(We’re) pushing ourselves harder in practice.”

Published on April 26, 2021 at 9:42 pm

Contact Bryan: brbrush@syr.edu