Ashley Spicer sat on the Drumlins Tennis Center bleachers with a bag of ice wrapped around her sore right elbow, her eyes darting from baseline to baseline as she cheered teammate and team captain Christina Tan.
It was a rest the Syracuse sophomore had certainly earned, after defeating her singles opponent in straight sets for the second day in a row.
Following up a win (6-0, 6-0) against visiting Villanova on Tuesday, Wednesday Spicer posted a 6-0, 6-3 singles victory over Cameron Williams, part of a 7-0 Orange sweep of visiting Colgate. At one point, Spicer won 18 consecutive singles games during the two-day span.
SU head coach Luke Jensen said the accomplishments of Spicer in the past two matches were catalysts for dominant SU victories. He even laughed when recalling the nonchalance of Spicer's dominant 48-hour span.
"She won 18 straight games before dropping a game," Jensen said. "I told her we are paying for the court time I want you to use more of it. What's the rush? When she is confident she rolls."
Spicer made easy work of Elise Derose in a dominant first set sweep before falling behind two games in her second set of the day. Facing her first sniff of adversity in the two-day span, Spicer emerged in the third game of the set with a winning form that would prove to shift the momentum back in her favor for good.
"She was up 2-0, and we went to three deuces and there were quite a few points where I just scrapped and got the ball back in play and made her miss," Spicer said. "It was a huge win because it prevented her from getting a three-game lead, and it allowed me back into the set."
Spicer's resilient final set allowed her to showcase the shots she has been working to add to her arsenal all season. She said her forehand stood out as a focal point of her successes against Colgate and Villanova.
Jensen concurred with her analysis.
"She wants to make her forehand more of a weapon," said Jensen. "It has been more of a consistent shot she has relied on to keep the ball in play; she wants to be more offensive with it. She has been getting more winners and productivity out of it."
Spicer's winning streak extended to her doubles play again. She and teammate Chelsea Jones won both of their doubles matches against Villanova and Colgate.
After finishing up her own victory, Tan attested to how Spicer's groundstroke game has matured throughout the long and winding Orange season.
"Lately she has been spending extra time in practice on her forehand, and it has definitely been paying off in matches," said Tan.
Following yesterday's win over Colgate, Syracuse will have a two-day rest before it faces conference foe St. John's at Drumlins. The Red Storm, like Syracuse, is floundering near the bottom of the Big East heap and will control its own destiny in the final weeks to qualify for the Big East tournament. Jensen, however, took a few moments on Wednesday to smile and savor another long-awaited victory for the Orange.
And of course, he couldn't forget Spicer's vital contributions during the past two days. There's little doubt the Orange will need Spicer's baseline play to secure some major wins down the final stretch of the season.
"She has been so much more consistent from the baseline, and when she is consistent it opens up her aggressive game," said Jensen. "She mounts all of her offense from a very consistent base, and when that's not happening she really can't move forward well, she loses her rhythm and confidence."
jwestfal@syr.edu
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