Maybe the Syracuse tennis team is in luck. Mother Nature decided to give the Orangewomen a gift to ease their trip to Georgetown this weekend, dropping as much as 30 inches of snow on certain parts of the Washington area.

The snow might help the Orangewomen feel a little more at home and bring an end to their road woes.

With their only three wins coming in home meets, the Orangewomen are hitting the road for their upcoming match against the Hoyas in Washington, D.C., on Sunday.

Syracuse needed the lucky break. If the Orangewomen continue their slump on the road, they’ll be in trouble, considering nine of their 12 remaining meets are on the road.

But the Orangewomen aren’t worried. Senior Shervin Saedinia feels the team is used to the road by now.

‘I don’t think (being on the road) really matters for my teammates,’ Saedinia said. ‘We’ve been away on the road and we’ve won matches in the past. It’s nice to play at home, of course, but we play so much away that we’re used to it.’

Sophomore Kristine Bech Holte agrees, especially since teams are given an hour of practice time before the meets.

‘It’s an advantage to be home because you’re used to the court,’ Holte said. ‘But most often, (opposing) courts are not that different.’

But over this season and last year’s regular season, SU combined for a 7-3 record at home. Compare that to a 4-10 record away, and the Orangewomen fare worse on the road than they think.

Head coach Mac Gifford still thinks his team can win on the road. He feels the poor road record is a result of facing more difficult opponents in those matches.

‘This team has played well on the road,’ Gifford said. ‘We went to Boston (on Feb. 7) and played Boston College — a better team — and we played well.’

Despite playing well, the Orangewomen lost that meet, 5-2. This weekend, though, they expect better results — their first road win.

‘I know that Georgetown is a lot better this year,’ Saedinia said. ”But in the past, we’ve beaten them. We’re going into it pretty strongly. We’re pretty rested.’

The Orangewomen enter Sunday more rested than anticipated. The team was scheduled to play against American University in Washington this weekend, but the meet was canceled, said Gifford, because of a scheduling error.

Syracuse is coming off two victories against Big East opponents — Feb. 14 against Connecticut, 6-1, and Sunday against West Virginia, 4-3.

A win this weekend against Georgetown would put the Orangewomen just three wins shy of last year’s Big East total.

‘It’s an important match to the Big East,’ Holte said.

That, along with the comfort of the snow, may be enough for the Orangewomen to get their first road victory.

‘(The team cares) deeply about their play against Big East teams,’ Gifford said. ‘The road doesn’t make a difference (in how we play).’

Published on February 20, 2003 at 12:00 pm