ITHACA, N.Y. — The women's tennis team will start its dual season this weekend at Harvard's Beren Tennis Center, where it will take on Massachusetts at 11 a.m. Saturday before opposing the host Crimson in a non-league match at noon Sunday. The match against Harvard will be streamed on the subscription-based Ivy League Digital Network.
 
Cornell made huge strides last season, and it did so without any seniors on its roster. The Big Red posted a three-win improvement in its league record from the 2013-14 season, marking the program's biggest Ivy jump from one season to the next since 1994. Under the direction for a fifth season of Mike Stevens, The Carl H. Meinig '31 Head Coach of Women's Tennis, the Big Red won three Ivy League matches for just the third time since 1997. Senior Dena Tanenbaum (singles) and junior Alexandra D'Ascenzo (doubles) both earned All-Ivy League Second Team honors.
 
Junior Marika Cusick comes into the weekend ranked 74th nationally and third in the Northeast Region in singles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Named the Big Red's most valuable player last season after posting a 13-5 mark in dual matches — buoyed by an impressive 10-match winning streak — is coming off a fall season in which she was 13-3 in singles. She finished second at the West Point Invitational in September, then advanced all the way to the semifinals of the USTA/ITA Northeast Regionals in October.
 
Tanenbaum is also ranked seventh in the region. Cornell's two-time captain and No. 1 singles entry for each of those years, Tanenbaum was 6-3 in a limited fall schedule. She surged into the quarterfinals of the regional tournament in October after toppling nationally-ranked Nikki Kallenberg of Harvard. Tanenbaum and Jane Stewart, who joined the Big Red as a transfer last season, are the team's only seniors this year.
 
Cornell opens its dual slate with a neutral-site matchup against Massachusetts. The Minutewomen split a pair of fall duals against Connecticut (5-2 loss) and Providence (7-0 win) in October and have been idle since the Big Green Invitational in early November. The Big Red is 8-0 all-time against UMass, with the last meeting resulting in a 4-3 victory on Feb. 16, 2008. Harvard is making its dual debut as well. Kallenberg is ranked 125th in the nation in singles, and Amanda Lin and Annika Ringblom are 52nd in doubles. Cornell's last meeting with Harvard was memorable, providing the Big Red with just its second  victory in 38 all-time meetings against the Crimson. The 5-2 win on April 3 was one of Cornell's three victories over top-75 teams last year.