ITHACA, N.Y. — The 71st-ranked women's tennis team rallied to win the final four singles matches Saturday, surging to a 4-3 victory over 67th-ranked Brown at Reis Tennis Center.
 
It marked the second straight year in which the Big Red defeated the Bears by a 4-3 score in Ivy League play — and a second straight year in which Lizzie Stewart clinched the match. The sophomore won at the No. 4 position on Saturday, breaking serve to take a 5-4 lead in the third set before closing out the match on serve.
 
Brown (13-8, 1-2 Ivy League) won two of three doubles matches to take an early 1-0 lead, then pushed to within a point of victory with straight-set singles victories at No. 3 and No. 6.
 
Sophomore Priyanka Shah got Cornell (13-7, 2-2 Ivy) on the board with a 6-2, 7-5 victory at No. 5, marking her ninth consecutive singles victory. Junior Marika Cusick won by an identical score at No. 1, and the Big Red cut its deficit to 3-2. Junior Alexandra D'Ascenzo then tied the match by winning a second-set tiebreaker against her nationally-ranked opponent at No. 2, setting the stage for Stewart's dramatic three-set victory.
 
Cornell wraps up the weekend with a match against Yale at noon Sunday at Reis Tennis Center. The match is free to attend and open to the public.
 
#71 CORNELL 4, #67 BROWN 3
Singles
1. Marika Cusick (C) def. Dayna Lord, 6-2, 7-5
2. Alexandra D'Ascenzo (C) def. #106 Alyza Benotto, 6-1, 7-6(3)
3. Hannah Camhi (B) def. Mariko Iinuma, 6-2, 6-1
4. Lizzie Stewart (C) def. Maddie Stearns, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
5. Priyanka Shah (C) def. Mariska Chamdani, 6-2, 7-5
6. Katie Ta (B) def. Jane Stewart, 6-3, 6-1
Doubles
1. Benotto/Lord (B) def. Cusick/D'Ascenzo, 6-3
2. L. Stewart/Shah (C) def. Camhi/Ta, 6-2
3. Mandalap/Stearns (B) def. Iinuma/Madison Stevens, 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3), Singles (6,3,5,1,2,4)
Records: Cornell 13-7, 2-2 Ivy; Brown 13-8, 1-2