ITHACA, N.Y. — The women's tennis team will look to climb back to the top of the Ivy League standings this weekend, hosting a pair of pivotal matches against nationally ranked teams in Dartmouth and Harvard at Reis Tennis Center.
 
Cornell (12-5, 2-1 Ivy League) is looking to rebound from a narrow 4-3 loss to Penn last Sunday, which ended the team's eight-match winning streak. The Big Red sits in a tie for second place in the league with Brown and Princeton, one match behind Harvard (15-6, 3-0). If Cornell defeats both Dartmouth (13-4, 1-2) at 2 p.m. Friday and the Crimson at 2 p.m. Saturday, it would move into at least a tie for first place with just two matches remaining in the regular season.

Senior Marika Cusick (No. 1) and junior Lizzie Stewart (No. 4) both won each of their singles matches in three sets last weekend to improve to 3-0 in Ivy play. By defeating a nationally ranked opponent from Penn last Sunday, Cusick has now won seven straight singles matches and improved to 10-4 on the season from the top spot. Stewart has won eight straight and continues to lead the squad in singles victories with a 13-4 record. Sophomore Mariko Iinuma is a perfect 3-0 in No. 5 singles matches within Ivy play.
 
Dartmouth remains the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's highest-ranked Ivy League team at 48th in the nation, though it has dropped three of its last four matches. The Big Green opened league play with a 4-3 loss to Harvard on April 2, then a narrow 4-3 win last Friday at Yale was followed by a 5-2 loss Sunday against Brown. It marked the Big Green's first home loss of the season. Taylor Ng competes at the No. 1 position in both singles (11-6) and doubles (11-5), where she's paired with Kristina Mathis. Racquel Lyn, Chuyang Guan and Allison McCann are a combined 23-7 from the bottom two spots in the singles order.

The Big Red is 7-27 all-time against the Big Green, though four of the last six Ivy League matches have ended in a 4-3 score. Cornell last victory against the Big Green came in 2013 at Reis Tennis Center.
 
Harvard has stormed through the early portion of the league schedule after finishing tied for seventh last year. The Crimson has won Ivy League matches against Dartmouth, Brown and Yale — all by scores of 4-3 — to move into the ITA national rankings this week at 49th. Erica Oosterhout and June Lee are a combined 28-9 from the top two positions in the singles order, and they're 8-8 when paired together at No. 1 doubles. The Crimson has gotten the most success in doubles from the No. 3 spot, where Annika Ringblom and Sabrina Xiong are 5-2.
 
Harvard holds a 37-4 lead in the all-time series, but Cornell has won three of the last four meetings between the programs. When the teams met in Ivy play last year at Harvard, the Big Red rallied for a 4-3 upset of the nationally-ranked Crimson. The Big Red was one point away from facing a 3-0 deficit, but an overruled line call helped Alexandra D'Ascenzo force a third set in her No. 2 singles match. Cusick and Iinuma won their respective singles matches in straight sets, then D'Ascenzo and Priyanka Shah capped the rally for Cornell. The teams have already met once this year in a non-league match during the ECAC Indoor Championships, with Harvard eking out a 4-3 win.

Both of this weekend's matches are free to attend and open to the public.