ITHACA, N.Y. – With the best record in the nation, the 11-0 women's tennis has broken into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's national rankings for the first time under third-year head coach Mike Stevens as it prepares for its Ivy League debut Saturday. The 64th-ranked Big Red will play host to 62nd-ranked Columbia at noon Saturday at Reis Tennis Center.
 
Cornell returns home from a successful Spring Break trip, which included three victories in South Carolina. The Big Red defeated its first ranked opponent, College of Charleston, on March 19, bookended by victories over Coastal Carolina and New Jersey Institute of Technology. Freshman Dena Tanenbaum (11-0) and sophomore Lauren Frazier (10-0) are both still undefeated in singles play, while freshman Laila Judeh and Ryann Young have just one loss apiece. Cornell is 58-8 in singles matches and 24-7 in doubles, sparking the best spring start in program history. It is one of just two unranked teams in Division I going into the weekend, with Buffalo sitting at 10-0 heading into a Friday match at Miami (Ohio).
 
The Big Red leads the all-time series against Columbia, 19-15, though the Lions won both of last year's matchups by identical 5-2 scores. The first came on Feb. 18, 2012 in the consolation semifinals at the ECAC Indoor Championships; the second in Ivy League play five weeks later. Cornell won the five league meetings prior to that.
 
Columbia (7-4) ended its Spring Break trip with a 4-3 loss to No. 49 SMU, which snapped a five-match winning streak against unranked opponents Maryland, Akron, Stony Brook, Fordham and Texas-Arlington. Senior Nicole Bartnik returns as the squad's primary No. 1 singles entry, ranked 69th by the ITA despite her early 3-6 record in dual matches. Junior Bianca Sanon can also be found toward the top of the singles lineup, and she combines with freshman Kanika Vaidya to comprise the No. 1 doubles team. The duo is 5-0 in dual matches and ranked 38th in the country.