Women’s Tennis Sweeps Road Trip to Cornell and Columbia

The Harvard women’s tennis team was perfect in its weekend swing through New York State, defeating Columbia and Cornell.

On Friday afternoon, the No. 18 Crimson (15-3, 5-0 Ivy) pounded out nine straight victories to blank the Lions (9-6, 2-3), 7-0, in New York City. A day later, Harvard traveled to Ithaca, where it produced a carbon-copy of its Friday performance, dominating the Big Red (15-6, 2-2) 7-0.

The Crimson truly owned the weekend, winning all 12 singles matches in straight sets and posting back-to-back shutouts for the first time this year.

“This past weekend has proven yet again what a solid team we are right through the lineup,” captain Sanja Bajin said.

Harvard 7, Cornell 0

Fresh off its victory over Columbia, the Crimson traveled two hundred miles northwest to Ithaca. Playing outdoors with a light breeze, the Big Red would prove a less formidable match for Harvard than the Lions had a day earlier.

“It was good to have one match indoors and one outdoors,” Anderson said. “It was good preparation for the rest of the season, and I also think it really showed the versatility of our team.”

The Crimson didn’t give up more than three games in any set, including the single-set doubles matches.

At doubles, Harvard tripled Cornell’s game total as the Crimson’s second and third doubles teams finished at almost precisely the same moment, winning 8-2 and 8-3 respectively. Bergman and Lingman took a bit longer to reach top form but disposed of their opponents 8-3 after some sloppy play early in the match.

Harvard had an even easier time in singles, winning three matches in under an hour.

At sixth singles, Anderson blanked her opponent, while Wang was nearly perfect, winning 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4.

Consistently excellent, Bajin posted a 6-1, 6-2 victory to improve to 17-0 in singles action this spring.

Marquee players Bergman and Lingman also played up to expectations, notching 6-2, 6-2 and 6-0, 6-2 wins, respectively.

The Crimson’s overall performance was its most dominant of the year, as it took 96 games to Cornell’s 23.

Harvard wraps up its regular season this weekend, laying its perfect Ivy mark on the line against Princeton and last year’s Ivy League champion, No. 41 Penn.

“Both Princeton and Penn are going to bring everything they have because we are the team to beat right now,” Bajin said. “We are fully aware of this and up to the challenge.”

Harvard 7, Columbia 0

In its first trip to Columbia’s new Dick Savitt Tennis Center, Harvard made quick work of the Lions. The Crimson took just 2:24 to dispatch Columbia, never dropping more than four games in a set in the six singles matches.

In the first doubles match, the No. 32 pair of sophomores Courtney Bergman and Susanna Lingman handily defeated its opponent 8-3.

Bajin and sophomore Alexis Martire had little trouble with Columbia’s second duo, winning 8-4.

At No. 3, the Lions posed a greater challenge to Harvard freshmen Melissa Anderson and Eva Wang, although the Crimson ultimately prevailed 9-7.

In the most closely contested singles match of the day, No. 43 Bergman took the No. 1 contest over Shelley Mittal 6-4, 6-4. At fourth singles, No. 72 Wang was pushed to a 6-4 second set victory after dominating the first set 6-0. Equally brilliant were Martire and Bajin, who trounced their opponents 6-0, 6-1 and 6-2, 6-0 respectively. Overall, the Crimson outscored Columbia 72-23 in singles.

—Staff writer Sean W. Coughlin can be reached at coughl@fas.harvard.edu.