Women’s tennis heads to Cornell looking for first Ivy League win

Still seeking its first win of the season in conference play, the women’s tennis team will take a mid-week trip up to Ithaca to take on Cornell Wednesday. The Lions beat the Big Red earlier this season at the Eastern Conference Athletic Championships 4-3 in a five-hour thriller, where they rallied from deficits repeatedly. Freshman Tiana Takenaga came back from 5-2 down in the third set to win the deciding match 7-6.

Columbia enters the rematch with Cornell on a two-match losing streak after they were swept by Harvard and Dartmouth over the weekend. Cornell also played Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend and was swept by almost identical scores. The only difference was that Harvard beat Cornell 7-0 but beat Columbia 6-1, as freshman Ioana Alecsiu won her singles match.

Cornell will come into the match with a record of 8-7 this spring, though they are 6-2 at home. Cornell beat Columbia 4-3 in a tight match during Ivy play last spring, and the win at ECAC was the first win over Cornell under fourth-year head coach Ilene Weintraub.

In that match, sophomore Nicole Bartnik won in three sets at No. 1, senior Natasha Makarova won in three sets at No. 3, rallying from a 3-0 deficit in the third set, Alecsiu won in straight sets at No. 6, and Takenaga won 7-5, 6-7, 7-6 at No. 5 singles. Cornell won the doubles point, winning 8-5 at No. 1 doubles and 8-1 at No. 2 doubles, while the No. 3 match was halted at 6-6 because the outcome had already been decided.

The match will be played at the Reis Tennis Center in Ithaca and is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.