ITHACA, N.Y. — The women's tennis team forced third sets in four of its six singles matches against red-hot Columbia on Saturday, but the visiting Lions prevailed in the first to reach completion to clinch a 4-0 victory in the squads' Ivy League debut at Reis Tennis Center.
Columbia (12-1, 1-0 Ivy League), which entered the match ranked 34th in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, started the day by winning the top two doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. A couple straight-set singles victories at the Nos. 1 and 5 positions pushed then pushed that lead to 3-0 and put the match on the brink.
But Cornell (6-10, 0-1) didn't go quietly. Senior
Mariko Iinuma (No. 2) and freshman
Valerie Ho (No. 3) won the first set of their respective singles matches, then freshmen
Maria Adiaconitei (No. 4) and
Khary Pryce (No. 6) rallied to win the second sets in their tilts to keep the match alive. Melissa Sakar eventually clinched for the Lions at No. 4, extending the program's winning streak to a record a 12 straight matches.
The loss snapped a three-match winning streak for Cornell, which now prepares to hit the road for matches at 1 p.m. Saturday at Brown and a 1 p.m. next Sunday at Yale.
#34 COLUMBIA 4, CORNELL 0
At Reis Tennis Center; Ithaca, N.Y.
Singles
1. Jennifer Kerr (Clm) def.
Katherine Nguyen, 6-0, 6-0
2.
Mariko Iinuma (Cor) vs. Akanksha Bhan, DNF
3.
Valerie Ho (Cor) vs. Christie Wan, DNF
4. Melissa Sakar (Clm) def.
Maria Adiaconitei, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
5. Andrea Kevakian (Clm) def.
Sarah Campbell, 6-2, 6-0
6.
Khary Pryce (Cor) vs. Sarah Hu, DNF
Doubles
1. Bhan/Paulina Ferrari (Clm) def. Adiaconitei/Nguyen, 6-0
2. Kevakian/Wan (Clm) def. Campbell/Iinuma, 6-2
3. Ho/Pryce (Cor) vs. Kerr/Sakar, DNF
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1), Singles (1,5,4)
