Tennis | Bramante's win helps Syracuse complete weekend sweep

By: Drew Stal

Posted: 2/27/06

In each of the matches this weekend for the Syracuse tennis team, Katie Bramante was playing in the last match left that mattered. While she lost on Friday and the team still won, it prepared her for Sunday when the team needed her to win.

Although the Orange had already sealed the victory against Army, leading 5-1 at that point, there was no pressure on Bramante. Her teammates merely cheered and waited for her to join them in victory. It did not matter Bramante lost her match in a third-set tie-breaker, the match capped off an impressive 5-2 victory for the Orange before playing its biggest rival, Cornell.

The Orange was up 4-2 against the Big Red with two matches left to play as the team entered the same scenario as Friday night. The team watched as Bramante battled through her match, winning the first set, 7-5, and gaining a 5-2 lead. The atmosphere was different, for with a Bramante win, the team would clinch the overall victory. With the chance to put the match away, Bramante fought hard, breaking her opponent's serve in eight deuce points to win the second set, 6-2.

"I was definitely really focused (Sunday)," Bramante said. "(Tamara John) had a tough serve, and going through my head I was thinking, 'Just get it back and anything short, just put it away.' The more the match went on, the more aggressive and pumped up I got. She was definitely a good player. I wasn't able to play my game today because she hit the ball really hard, and I had to be defensive for a while."

With the match on the line, Bramante's teammates were confident in her abilities and knew Bramante would come through.

"I knew Katie had it," said senior Wei-Ming Leong. "If this team was to play another team and they could only elect one player to decide the match, it would be Katie. Katie has such a big heart. I looked in her eyes and I knew she had it. I wasn't even nervous about Katie's match at all."

Head coach Mac Gifford was impressed with Bramante's focus and determination to fight through anything.

"In that last game, it just kept going back and forth and (Katie) gutted it out; that's all heart and all guts," Gifford said. "Katie is all about being that kind of person. Most people say she's so small or she doesn't hit the ball hard, but she's like one of those animals that sinks its teeth in you and will not let go. She's a great team leader and it was a great match for us."

Bramante's gutsy resolve may have come from Leong, who almost single-handedly attempted to will the team to victory over Cornell. In all her four years at Syracuse, Leong has yet to experience a team victory over Cornell. Last year, Leong was pulled out of the match and sat on the sidelines, only to watch the team lose a heart-breaking match, 4-3. This year, Leong was determined to play as well as succeed.

"There are some teams that you lose to so many times and finally you say, 'You know what, I've had enough,'" Leong said. "I told the girls right before the match that I want this, and I carried it onto the court."

Leong's actions certainly spoke volumes of her fortitude to win, with her 6-2, 6-0 victory at No. 6 singles and an 8-4 doubles victory along with Bramante.

After the weekend's exhilarating play and three straight victories, the Orange has full momentum heading into Big East play. SU's toughness impressed Gifford, who is confident with where the team is at right now.

"Tennis isn't about who's the most talented," Gifford said. "It's about who has the most fight, and I think after a match like today we showed that."