NEW YORK — Freshman Steph Tan improved to 3-0 on the year, but the women's squash team was defeated by Columbia on Sunday, 6-3, in the teams' Ivy League opener at SL Green StreetSquash.
 
Tan's win at No. 9 and sophomore Mimi deLisser (No. 6) helped eighth-ranked Cornell (1-2, 0-1 Ivy League) take a 2-1 lead after the opening rotation. Senior Hannah Scherl then swept her match in three games at No. 8 to leave the score tied at 3 entering the final three matches. Seventh-ranked Columbia (3-0, 1-0) then won each of the remaining matches in three games.
 
The Big Red will remain idle for six weeks for the semseter and holiday breaks before hitting the road for three matches Jan. 12-13 against Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth.
 
COLUMBIA 6, CORNELL 3
National rankings: Columbia 7, Cornell 8
Sunday's results; at SL Green StreetSquash, New York
1. Maddie O'Connor (Clm) def. Nghi Nguyen, 11-7, 11-4, 11-6
2. Nicole Kendall (Clm) def. Lily Zelov, 11-6, 8-11, 13-11, 13-11
3. Jui Kalgutkar (Clm) def. Madison Miles, 16-14, 11-5, 12-10
4. Habiba Mohamed (Clm) def. Colby Gallagher, 11-6, 11-3, 11-6
5. Jane Pincus (Clm) def. Lauren Leizman, 11-3, 5-11, 12-10, 11-6
6. Mimi deLisser (Cor) def. Julia Masch, 11-9, 15-13, 11-1
7. Doria Chen (Clm) def. Lucy Martin, 12-10, 11-6, 11-7
8. Hannah Scherl (Cor) def. Pranjali Sharma, 11-4, 12-10, 11-4
9. Steph Tan (Cor) def. Diana Masch, 11-0, 11-6, 11-2