NEW YORK, N.Y. -
Milena Kachar and
Angela Hendry rallied from one-set deficits to give Columbia a hard-fought 5-2 victory over Cornell at the Richard Savitt
Tennis Center.
The Lions dropped the doubles point, and went into the singles down 1-0.
First-years went to work quickly, picking up wins at No. 6, No. 5 and No. 3.
Lauren Shearer was first to finish, winning at No. 6, 6-3, 6-1. Fellow first-year Nina Suda followed closely behind, winning at No. 5, 7-6, 6-0. Sydney Murray rounded
out the Lions that were done in two sets, winning at No. 3, 6-1, 7-5.
Leading 3-1, the Lions looked for a win amongst their No. 1, 2 or 4 players, all of which went down one set to none.
Molly Condit dropped the first set 6-3, but battled back to win the second 6-4 against Suda's sister, Nisha, who is a junior at Cornell. She was up 2-1 in the third when
teammate Angela Hendry battled back from a 6-2 first-set-loss, to take her second set 6-4.
Kachar lost her first set 4-6 and battled back to take set two, 7-5.
Condit dropped a tough third set 6-4, but the Lions led 3-2. Hendry went up 5-2 in her third set, but Kachar was leading by one, 4-3. Kachar charged, and took the
final two points for the 6-3 win to clinch the match.
Hendry was up 5-3, 30-0, before Kasia Preneta was forced to retire because of an injury.
The Lions are now 9-5, 1-0 Ivy League.
The Lions return to action on Friday, April 7 at Dartmouth at 3 p.m. and follow at Harvard at noon on April 8.