The women’s tennis team returned to the East Hill after claiming three titles and finished in second place at the Penn State Invitational in State College, Pa., this past weekend in its final competition of the fall season.
The Red started off with a doubles-laden Friday slate against the Nittany Lions, although the only Cornell titlist on the day came in D Flight singles when junior Weatherly Schwab defeated Penn State’s Jenna Shedd.
The rest of Friday was devoted to doubles action, as each squad’s pairs played twice. The Nittany Lions defended home court, with Lauren McCarthy and Jenny Shular claiming the doubles title with victories over the Red’s pairing of senior Nisha Suda and sophomore Tamara John, 8-0, as well as defeating sophomores Catherine Duboc and Shayna Miller, 8-5. Duboc and Miller were able to rebound with a win later in the day, while senior Kasia Prenata and sophomore Elizabeth Googe teamed up to earn a 1-1 record on the day.
[img_assist|nid=19624|title=Weather bug|desc=Junior Weatherly Schwab (pictured) won the D flight singles title this past weekend.|link=popup|align=left|width=72|height=100]
Cornell took two championships yesterday in singles competition and posted a 6-4 record on the day.
John and Prenata made it an all-Cornell A Flight singles final. John exacted revenge on Shular, scoring a come-from-behind victory in the semifinal by recovering from a first set, 6-7 (4), defeat to earn the win by winning two consecutive sets by a 6-4 margin. Prenata advanced by holding out to win another three-set semifinal, 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 against Penn State’s Lauren McCarthy. When the two teammates faced off for the title, Prenata prevailed in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
Competition was tight throughout the day, as both semifinals in B Flight singles went to three sets as well. Googe held on against Dorthy Dohanics, 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 (5), to advance to the finals. Suda got off to a hot start, winning her first semifinal set, 6-2, before falling in the final two sets, 6-2, 6-1 to Penn State’s Andreea Niculescu.
Googe then met Niculescu in the finals, eking out a first-set win, 7-6 (5), and claiming the title with a 6-1 victory in the second set. Niculescu bounced back to defeat Suda, 7-6 (4), 6-2), in the consolation match for the B Flight singles.
Duboc was the final Red netter to claim a berth in a finals matchup, advancing to the C Flight singles championship after recovering from a first-set loss in the semifinals to beat Kathrine Harclerode of the Nittany Lions, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Sophomore Shayna Miller advanced to the semifinals as well, but fell to Leyla Morzan in straight sets. Morzan and Duboc faced off for the title, with Duboc claiming the first set, 6-4, before falling short in the next two by scores of 6-1 and 7-5 to relinquish the title to Morzan.
