The Cornell women’s tennis team concludes its spring 2001 campaign this weekend with matches against Ivy League foes Penn and Princeton. Despite a tremendous start to the season, the Red (13-7, 2-3 Ivy) has fallen away disappointingly over recent weeks and has succumbed to its opponents in three of its last four competitive matches. However, one thing remains the same — the team’s willingness to fight till the last ball has been hit. This philosophy was clearly evident when the team went down to both Yale and Brown last weekend.
Last Saturday, the Red was resoundingly beaten 7-0 by Yale in New Haven. The Bulldogs took two of three doubles matches and swept the singles en route to the victory. Cornell opened the encounter brimming with confidence, and claimed the third doubles match. However, it was unsuccessful in winning another to secure the opening point. Sophomores Nicole Chiu and Alex DelPrete won at the No. 3 position decisively by a score of 8-2 over Margaret Purcell and Susie Hiniker. Yale stole the other two contests, including one that saw a solid effort from senior captain Ngozi Amobi and freshman Kate Sternberg wasted in an 8-6 hard-luck loss to the Bulldogs’ Karlyn Martin and Ashley Martin.
Yale won all but one singles match in straight sets en route to the victory. Freshman Laura Leigh Tallent split with the Bulldogs’ Elizabeth Kaufman but lost in a tiebreaker to decide the match, 5-7, 6-1, (7-5).
The previous Friday had seen the squad drop a close 4-3 match to Brown. In this match, the Red managed to secure the opening doubles point. Sophomore Suzanne Wright and Leigh Tallent earned the deciding victory at the No. 1 spot, defeating Heather Young and Olivia Wong 9-8 (3) in a tense tiebreaker. Amobi and Sternberg claimed the Red’s next win at the No. 2 position, 8-2.
Brown came out strong at the onset of the singles competition, earning three points with straight set victories at the No. 3, 4 and 6 positions. After Amobi won a three-set decision over Wong at the No. 2 slot by scores of 6-1, 5-7, 6-0, the Red needed to win the two remaining matches to emerge victoriously. Suzanne Wright and Heather Young split sets at the No. 1 position before Young avenged her doubles loss with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 triumph. Sophomore Nicole Chiu tallied the final point for the Red, winning in a shortened third set at the No. 5 position, 7-5, 5-7, 5-4 (5).
The Red hosts Penn at the Reis Tennis Center this afternoon, and will complete the season with a journey to Princeton on Sunday.
Archived article by Kris Rajan