SYRACUSE, N.Y. — In a match that will feature five of the Northeast Region's top seven singles players, the women's tennis team will make the short trip to Syracuse to take on the Orange at 11 a.m. Sunday at Drumlins Country Club.
 
Cornell is 2-0 after defeating Massachusetts and Harvard last weekend. While the victory against the Crimson marked the second time the Big Red has defeated its Ivy League rivals within the last 12 months, it's also only the third time Cornell has won in the all-time series. Sophomore Lizzie Stewart clinched the match with a victory at No. 5 singles. She and junior Marika Cusick each won both of their singles matches on the weekend, and Cusick also teamed up with senior Jane Stewart to win a pair of No. 3 doubles tilts. Cornell defeated Massachusetts, 5-2, before topping Harvard, 4-3.
 
Cusick is ranked 74th in the nation in singles and third in the Northeast Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. The two players in the region above her are both from Syracuse — freshman Anna Shkudun and Valeria Salazar. Shkudun, tabbed as the fourth-best newcomer this year by the ITA and also 37th overall in the country, got to that perch after defeating Salazar in the USTA/ITA Northeast Regionals in the fall. Her semifinal victory came against Cusick, 6-1, 6-3. Cornell senior captain Dena Tanenbaum is ranked seventh in the Northeast and could also face a rematch from regionals, when she was tripped up by Salazar in the quarterfinals, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The Orange's Gabriela Knutson is ranked fourth in the region, and she teams with Salazar to form a 49th-ranked doubles team. Syracuse opens the weekend with its first duals of the season against Columbia on Friday and Liberty on Saturday.
 
Cornell trails in the all-time series, 16-6, with its last victory against Syracuse coming via 4-3 decision on Feb. 15, 2008 in Ithaca. The Orange won the teams' meeting last season, 5-2, when it was ranked 53rd in the nation.