ITHACA, N.Y. — The women's tennis team has defeated Harvard for the second time in program history, with freshman Priyanka Shah and junior Jane Stewart winning singles matches in the third set to clinch a 5-2 victory on Friday at Reis Tennis Center.
 
With the win, Cornell (8-5, 2-0 Ivy League) has seven straight victories and is off to its best league start since the 2008-09 season. Harvard (7-6, 0-1), which came into the match ranked 54th in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, becomes the third ranked team the Big Red has knocked off this season (Yale and Columbia are the others).
 
Cornell set the tone in Friday's match by clawing out the doubles point. The Big Red fell in the No. 1 match, but used late breaks in the remaining two matches Sophomore Marika Cusick and junior Jane Stewart won the final three games of their match at No. 3, and the freshmen duo of Lizzie Stewart and Priyanka Shah also won 8-6 to give the Big Red a 1-0 lead.
 
After Harvard won the first singles match to finish to tie the score at 1, Cusick won in straight sets at No. 4 to push the home side back ahead and junior captain Dena Tanenbaum topped Nikki Kallenberg at the No. 1 position, 7-5, 6-4, to bring Cornell within one point of clinching.
 
The final two matches went to three sets, and Shah clinched the Big Red's victory by rallying for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 5. Jane Stewart put the exclamation point on the match with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 win at No. 6, which gives her an nine-match winning streak and a team-best 10 singles victories.
 
Cornell's only other victory in 38 all-time meetings with Harvard came on April 6, 2007, also at Reis Tennis Center. That season also marks the last time the Big Red opened the Ivy League season with three victories, a feat which can be duplicated if Cornell defeats 30th-ranked Dartmouth at 2 p.m. Saturday at Reis Tennis Center.
 
CORNELL 5, #54 HARVARD 2
Friday's results; at Reis Tennis Center; Ithaca, N.Y.
Singles
1. Dena Tanenbaum (C) def. Nikki Kellenberg, 7-5, 6-4
2. Monica Lin (H) def. Alexandra D'Ascenzo, 7-6(5), 6-2
3. Marika Cusick (C) def. Ellen Jang-Milsten, 6-2, 6-3
4. Annika Ringblom (H) def. Lizzie Stewart, 6-1, 6-2
5. Priyanka Shah (C) def. Amy He, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
6. Jane Stewart (C) def. Amanda Lin, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2
Doubles
1. M. Lin/Ringblom (H) def. D'Ascenzo/Tanenbaum, 8-4
2. Shah/L. Stewart (C) def. Jang-Milsten/Kallenberg, 8-6
3. Cusick/J. Stewart (C) def. June Lee/A. Lin, 8-6
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3), Singles (4,1,3,2,5,6)