NEW YORK — After tying a program record for non-league victories in a season with 11, the women's tennis team will embark its seven-match Ivy League slate with a trip to face Columbia at noon Saturday at Dick Savitt Tennis Center.
 
Cornell (11-5) has been flying through the month, winning all six of its March matches — including five by a score of 7-0. Two of those sweeps came last weekend in victories over Marist and Binghamton to wrap up an 11-match home stand. Sophomore Lizzie Stewart has won 10 consecutive singles matches from the Nos. 2 and 3 positions, and freshman Michelle Wang is a perfect 10-0 from the lower half of the order. Junior Alexandra D'Ascenzo has also won all six of her March singles matches. The Big Red's 11 non-league victories ties a program record, previously achieved in 2011 and 2013.
 
Columbia (9-5) is coming a off a three-match trip against nationally-ranked teams in Florida, where it suffered a pair of 6-1 losses to Miami and South Florida bookending a 4-3 victory at Florida International. The Lions, who won the ECAC Indoor Championships in February, are now ranked 40th in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Senior Kanika Vaidya is 12-1 in singles and ranked 26th in the country, having rocketed up 26 spots on the ITA's list after a win over current No. 5 Stephanie Wagner, of Miami. D'Ascenzo defeated Vaidya in last year's Ivy League match at the No. 2 singles position, though Vaidya is currently lined up to face Cornell junior Marika Cusick in No. 1 singles. Sophomore Alexandra Soloyev and freshman Andrea Kevakian are both 9-4 in dual singles matches.
 
Cornell leads the all-time series against Columbia, 20-18, with the teams splitting a pair of matches last year. The Lions won, 4-1, in a non-league tilt at the ECAC Indoor Championships in February, but the Big Red countered with a dramatic 4-3 victory in the teams' Ivy opener at Reis Tennis Center in Ithaca. Marika Cusick clinched that match with a three-set victory at the No. 3 position in singles. The Lions were ranked 60th at the time.