The Cornell Daily Sun - Independent Since 1880

The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/2002/03/11/tennis-sweeps-three/)

March 11, 2002

Uncategorized

Tennis Sweeps Three

By wpengine | March 11, 2002

The women’s tennis team improved to 8-1 after sweeping its matches against Binghamton, UMBC, and Massachusetts, all 7-0 this weekend at Reis Tennis Center. The netters took every point in all three matches, dropping only one of out three doubles contests in each match. Junior Suzanne Wright led the way for the Red, winning all of her first singles matches in straight sets.

“We had a really successful weekend. It was a good confidence booster for the team,” said head coach Angela Rudert. “All of the teams [we played] could have taken a point from us, but we swept them.”

The Red opened the weekend against Binghamton (2-4) on Saturday by taking the doubles point, with junior Nicole Chiu and freshman Erika Takeuchi taking the second contest, and freshman Melissa Tu and junior Saloni Kantaria winning at the No. 3 position. Wright, sophomore Laura Leigh Tallent, junior Piper Lucas, sophomore Kate Sternberg, Chiu, and Tu won all six singles matches to cap off the 7-0 victory.

Later that afternoon, the netters squared off against University of Maryland, Baltimore County (5-4) and again came away with the win. Fatigued from the previous match, the Red held out against the tougher UMBC squad. The Red took the doubles points by winning the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, and Wright, Tallent, Takeuchi, freshman Akane Kokubo, Lucas, and Sternberg were all winners in their respective singles contests.

“To pull out a 7-0 win when you’re tired is a lot tougher, so it means a little more,” remarked Rudert.

To finish up the weekend, the Red hosted University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2-11) yesterday afternoon. The netters took the doubles points with wins at the number 1 and number three positions, with Wright, Tallent, Kokubo, Lucas, Chiu, and Tu winning their singles matches in straight sets.

Facing weaker teams for much of the beginning of the season, the Red will face stiffer competition next week, when it travels to Louisiana to take on Tulane, New Orleans, and Louisiana-Lafayette.

“[The team] is up for some challenges in Louisiana. [They’re] really excited. These matches will help us get ready for the Ivy season,” Rudert said.

Archived article by Jonathan Auerbach

Related

Albany Bound: Wrestlers Send Seven to NCAAs

By wpengine March 12, 2002

Cornell had its first two EIWA (Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) champions –freshman Travis Lee and junior Clint Wattenberg — since the 2000 version of the team, en route to placing an impressive seven grapplers into the NCAA tournament. Joining Lee and Wattenberg in the NCAAs will be senior Jim Stanec, junior Gabe Webster and sophomores Alejandro Alvarez, Scott Roth and Matt Greenberg. Cornell has never sent this many wrestlers to the National Championships before. On top of getting seven members of the team to the NCAAs, the squad finished the weekend’s competition at Lehigh in third place, despite taking on some of the best squads in the country. Finishing with 114.5 points, 3.5 points behind Ivy rivals Penn and a distant 16.5 points behind first-place Lehigh, the squad finished where it was projected to in the tournament. “We would’ve liked to have won, but we’ll trade the win to get seven guys in [the NCAAs] any day,” said head coach Rob Koll. “Don’t get me wrong, but if you’d asked if I’d prefer taking six to Nationals and winning versus seven and not winning, I’d take the seven guys.” The good news for Cornell was the way in which it captured third, joining Lehigh and Penn as the obvious class of the tournament. Fourth-placed Harvard could only muster 86.5 points, well back of the top three teams. Lee was possibly Cornell’s most pleasant surprise of the weekend. The tournament’s third seed, Lee advanced through the 125-lb. weight class in impressive fashion. In the semifinals he met Mason Lenhard, last year’s defending champion in the weight class and a grappler who had taken Lee out 11-8 in a hard-fought bout earlier this season. Lee, the country’s 14th-ranked wrestler, walked away with a 5-2 win and a berth in the finals. There, the young Hawaiian knocked off top-seeded Mario Stuart of Lehigh, 6-2, to claim his first EIWA title. Lee scored two takedowns of Stuart in the second and third periods to earn the victory. He now is just two weeks away from his first NCAA tournament. “He’s absolutely fantastic,” Koll said. “He gets better every time he steps on the mat. “I’m just excited and anxious to get out there. This is an exciting time,” Lee said. “I didn’t expect to win, but I didn’t consider myself out of the race.” Cornell’s second championship of the weekend came just a short time later when the second-ranked Wattenberg took out Lehigh’s Rob Rohn for his title in the 184-lb. weight class. Wattenberg entered the competition the eighth-ranked grappler in the nation, but Rohn was an impressive sixth and the top seed. Wattenberg pulled out impressive third period heroics to score a 7-6 victory and his first Easterns championship. The win is impressive redemption for the wrestler who went 2-2 in last year’s Easterns despite his top billing in the 165-pound weight class. “He’s been unstoppable in the second semester,” Koll noted. “Either of those guys [Lee and Wattenberg] could win it all.” Cornell had two other wrestlers in the finals on Sunday, sophomores Alvarez at 133-pounds and Greenberg at 197-pounds. Each fell to Lehigh wrestlers after an impressive run through the tournament that punched their tickets to the big dance. Alvarez lost after a four-point move by the Mountain Hawk’s Dan Hyman in the third period. The sophomore eventually fell 9-4, but only after a tournament that saw him take down Columbia’s Steve Popovitch among others. Alvarez entered the tournament ranked second in his weight class. Greenberg’s route to the finals included a victory over the second-ranked wrestler in the competition, Brown’s Nick Ciarcia. That double-overtime win offered Greenberg a chance to take on Lehigh’s Jon Trenge, a sophomore and the top seed at 197-pounds. Trenge was ranked second in the country coming into Easterns. The Red sophomore lost 6-0, but his strong showing earned him the spot at Nationals. “I was so happy to see him get in,” Koll said. Senior Jim Stanec, junior Gabe Webster and sophomore Scott Roth will round out Cornell’s NCAA group, as each earned a wild card to the tournament. The selection is an honor bestowed upon wrestlers by the coaches. It is for those that, despite not finishing first or second at Easterns, deserve to go. It would’ve been a travesty if [those three] had not gotten wild cards,” Koll said. The best news for Cornell is that it could record its best showing ever when it takes seven grapplers to the NCAAs. With a few early round wins, and top finishes by its best wrestlers, the team could be shooting for a high finish. “It’s certainly a lofty goal, but we’ll be shooting for a top-10,” Koll said. “If every guy scores points, we’ll certainly be right up there.” The team will find out in a few weeks when the Championships open on March 21 at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y.Archived article by Charles Persons
Red Tumblers Drop Vermont

By wpengine March 12, 2002

After setting a team record a week ago against Rutgers, the women’s gymnastics team bested its previous score in a victory over Vermont, 190.800 to 185.825 in Burlington on Sunday. Freshman Larissa Calka earned a score of 9.825 on the balance beam, tying the school record set last season by Shannon Weiman. With the win, the team improves to 3-1 in dual match competition. “We set the bar high enough,” remarked head coach Paul Beckwith. “I don’t want to score below a 190 for the rest of the year.” The tumblers had strong performances in the vault, setting a new team record. Sophomore Denise Hurd led the way in that event for the Red with a score of 9.650. In the uneven bars, the team’s strongest event, freshman Meghan Miller placed first with a score of 9.800, with the Red taking the top four out of five finishes in the event. The tumblers did not fare as well in the floor exercise, as freshman Shellen Goltz and Hurd tied for fifth place. The team is expecting a closer match this weekend when it travels to Philadelphia to face Temple. The Red is currently ranked one spot above the Owls in the North Eastern region. Earlier this season, the tumblers placed above Temple at the George Washington Invitational in January, while the Owls finished above the Red at the New Hampshire Invitational in February. On March 23, Cornell will compete in the ECAC championships at William and Mary. The Red is currently ranked third in the conference. “We’ve never gone in higher than sixth. It feels pretty darn good,” commented Beckwith. “Even if someone is ranked ahead of us, it all depends on what happens that day.” Archived article by Jonathan Auerbach