ITHACA, N.Y. — Fresh off a victory over nationally-ranked Columbia in its Ivy League opener, the women's tennis team will continue a home stand this weekend with two more league matches against Harvard at 2 p.m. Friday and Dartmouth at 2 p.m. Saturday.
 
Cornell (7-5, 1-0 Ivy League) clinched a 4-3 victory over Columbia on Saturday with sophomore Marika Cusick's three-set victory in No. 3 singles. The Lions were ranked 60th in the nation and received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament last season. It was the Big Red's second victory over a ranked team this season, after it knocked off Yale in the ECAC Indoor Championships over the winter.
 
The Big Red has a six-match winning streak, having captured the doubles point in five of those matches. The doubles team of freshmen Priyanka Shah and Lizzie Stewart are a perfect 3-0 since they started playing together. Junior Jane Stewart 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. Her nine singles victories lead the team, one ahead of Cusick (8-4) and sophomore Alexandra D'Ascenzo (8-2).
 
Harvard (7-5) will open its Ivy League season on the heels of a pair of tight 4-3 decisions. The Crimson dropped the first, which was March 21 at Long Beach State, but it rebounded with a victory last Saturday against regional rival Boston University. Harvard is ranked 54th by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, with all seven of its matches against ranked opponents coming conseuctively in a four-week span. The victories were against DePaul, Boston College and North Texas, while the losses were to Vanderbilt, Stanford, California and Maryland. Freshman Nikki Kallenberg is 9-2 in dual singles matches from the top two positions.
 
Harvard holds a 36-1 lead in the all-time series, with Cornell's lone victory coming on April 6, 2007 at Reis Tennis Center. The Crimson has won 6-1 in each of the last three seasons, with Cusick winning a No. 2 singles match last year.
 
Dartmouth (13-3) was ranked as high as 22nd after an 11-match winning streak to start the dual season, but it has gone 2-3 since to slip back to 30th in the national rankings. The Big Green, which opens Ivy play Friday at Columbia, is coming off upset losses to Cal State-Northridge and Houston. Taylor Ng competes from the No. 1 singles position, where she has a 15-1 record and is ranked 103rd in the country. She also teams with Kristina Mathis to form the No. 1 doubles team, which is 9-3 in dual matches — though Ng competed with Jacqueline Crawford in doubles in the Big Green's last two matches.
 
The Big Red is 7-25 all-time against the Big Green, including a 4-3 victory in their last meeting in Ithaca two years ago. Cornell won the doubles point, then split the six singles matches. Among the victors for the Big Red was now-junior captain Dena Tanenbaum at the No. 4 spot. The teams met twice last year, with Cusick and D'Ascenzo twice winning No. 1 doubles matches against Ng and Katherine Yau.

Both matches are free to attend and open to the public.