BRIEF: Women's Tennis Leaves New York Winless on the Weekend

The No. 54 Harvard women’s tennis team opened its Ivy League slate with two losses this weekend, falling to Cornell on Friday and No. 65 Columbia on Saturday. Despite a handful of strong individual performances, the Crimson (7-7, 0-2 Ivy) fell to both schools by a score of 5-2.

COLUMBIA 5, HARVARD 2

Following a loss to Cornell, the Crimson fell yet again on Saturday, dropping to 0-2 in the Ancient Eight. Similar to the previous day of action, Harvard's two points came from singles play. Sophomore Monica Lin and freshman Nikki Kallenberg recorded wins for the Crimson, with the rookie winning her second and third sets despite losing, 1-6, in the first set to Columbia’s Kanika Vaidya. Kallenberg's come-from-behind win was the first singles win for the Crimson, marking her sixth victory in her last seven outings. Lin closed out the singles matches with a straight-set victory over her opponent—her 12th individual win of the season.

However, Columbia (10-6, 2-1) earned its victory in a similar fashion to Cornell—both picked up two wins in the doubles flight and never lost their leads throughout singles play. The Crimson faltered in its singles matches as three out of its four losses came in straight sets.

CORNELL 5, HARVARD 2

On Friday, Lin and freshman Annika Ringblom won both their singles matches at the second and fourth positions, respectively. The duo also played together at the top doubles position, earning an 8-4 victory over its opponents.

Lin won her singles match against Cornell’s Alexandra D’Ascenzo in straight sets, 7-6 (5), 6-2, while Ringblom posted a convincing 6-1, 6-2 victory.

Despite the individual successes, the Crimson could not keep pace with the Big Red (8-6, 2-0). Cornell started off the match by jumping out to a 1-0 lead after winning in both the second and third doubles slots. Harvard continued to play from behind, eventually falling, 5-2.

Although juniors Amy He and Amanda Lin both fought to win a set in the last two singles matches, they were ultimately defeated by Priyanka Shah and Jane Stewart of Cornell.