By DANIELLE LETOURNEAU
The Cornell women’s tennis team wrapped up its fall season with strong results at the Harvard Invitational. Throughout the competition, the women’s team battled through the doubles draw and the A and B individual flights.
Freshman Lizzie Stewart advanced to the semifinals of the A bracket after having three solid matches. She said that she felt more confident as the tournament progressed.
“I started out strong in my first singles match of the tournament, and that kind of play carried over into my next three matches,” she said. “Since I had a great first match, it gave me a lot of confidence, which helped me to upset the higher ranked girls later on in the tournament.”
In the final, Stewart lost a tough three-setter against Harvard’s Ellen Jang-Milsten. She had a slow start and was down 5-0 in the first set. However, Stewart stepped up and put more pressure on Jang-Milsten, who then started making errors. Stewart lost the first set 6-4.
After gaining momentum from her comeback, she won the second set, 6-3. In the third set she played, she kept the rallies going and played consistently.
“Going into the final set, I was really trying to focus on swinging out on the ball and going for my shots,” she said. “I was focused on aiming for big targets in the court, and just trying to make her play as many balls as possible.”
Although Stewart was ultimately unable to pull out the win, she said she believes that if she gets another crack at her opponent she has the ability to win.
“Unfortunately, I came up short in the final set, losing it 6-3, but I stuck to my game plan, and I feel like next time I know what I can do to beat her,” she said.
The women’s tennis team finished its season on a high note, taking second place at the Harvard Invitational. (Courtesy of Christine Ordway).