ITHACA, N.Y. — The women's tennis team wasted little time making a statement in Ivy League play this season, toppling nationally-ranked Columbia, 4-3, in the teams' league debut on Saturday at Reis Tennis Center. Sophomore Marika Cusick clinched the match with a three-set victory in No. 3 singles.
 
Cornell (7-5, 1-0 Ivy League), which has no seniors and just two juniors on its roster, extended its overall winning streak to six matches while also ending a seven-match losing streak in Ivy League play that spanned the entire 2014 season. Columbia (8-6, 0-1), which is entered the week ranked 60th by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, became the second ranked team that Cornell has defeated this season. The first was Yale during the ECAC Indoor Championships in February.
 
The Big Red started the day by locking up the doubles point in dramatic fashion. Freshmen Priyanka Shah and Lizzie Stewart won at the No. 2 position against Rima Asatrian and Kanika Vaidya — a pairing that won the USTA/ITA Northeast Regionals doubles title in the fall — then Cusick and junior Jane Stewart teamed up to win the No. 3 match in a tiebreaker to give the home side an early lead.
 
Jane Stewart then extended Cornell's lead to 2-0 with a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 6 singles. She hasn't lost in her last 11 singles matches — a stretch that includes eight victories in straight sets and three matches she was leading when they were halted. After the Lions fought back to knot the match at 2, sophomore Alexandra D'Ascenzo pushed the Big Red back ahead with a 6-2, 6-3 victory in No. 2 singles.
 
That left the balance of the match on a pair of three-set matches, and the Big Red won the first to be completed to clinch. Cusick used an early break in the third set to jump ahead 3-0, then held off Rima Asatrian the rest of the way to win her sixth straight singles match and give the Big Red its first win against Columbia since 2011.
 
Cornell will conclude its six-match home stand next weekend with two more Ivy League clashes Friday and Saturday against Harvard and Dartmouth, respectively.
 
CORNELL 4, #60 COLUMBIA 3
Saturday's results; at Reis Tennis Center; Ithaca, N.Y.
Singles
1. Tina Jiang (Col) def. Dena Tanenbaum, 7-5, 6-1
2. Alexandra D'Ascenzo (Cor) def. Kanika Vaidya, 6-4, 6-3
3. Marika Cusick (Cor) def. Rima Asatrian, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
4. Alexandra Solovyev (Col) def. Lizzie Stewart , 2-6, 6-4, 7-5
5. Crystal Leung (Col) def. Priyanka Shah, 6-2, 6-3
6. Jane Stewart (Cor) def. Vivian Cheng, 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
1. Jiang/Leung (Col) def. D'Ascenzo/Tanenbaum, 8-5
2. Shah/L. Stewart (Cor) def. Asatrian/Vaidya, 8-4
3. Cusick/J. Stewart (Cor) def. Adi Milstein/Solovyev, 8-7(3)
Order of finish: Doubles(1,2,3), Singles (6,1,5,2,3,4)