NEW YORK – The Columbia women's tennis team lost a hard-fought battle with Syracuse Friday, falling to the Orange 4-3. With the loss, the Lions now stand at 2-5 on the season, while Syracuse improves to 6-1.

Doubles saw a battle for the point, as both teams won a match before the winner was decided. The first off the court was the No. 2 pair of Natasha Makarova and first-year Chelsea Davis, who lost to Eleanor Peters and Chelsea Jones, 8-4. Junior Natalia Christenson and sophomore Eliza Matache had an intense match in the No. 3 position, as the two teams battled it out, before the Columbia duo won it, 8-5. With each team owning a doubles win, the point came down to the No. 1 spot. Though Nicole Bartnik and Carling Donovan held a 7-6 lead and had the serve for the match, they were not able to hold off Emily Harman and Christina Tan, who rallied back to win three of the last four games, and steal the win, 9-7.

With Syracuse up 1-0 heading into singles, Columbia was fighting an uphill battle. Though the Lions managed to notch three singles wins, it would not be enough, as the doubles point proved to be the deciding factor.

Syracuse managed wins at Nos. 3, 5 and 6, which was enough to take the match for the Orange. Alessondra Parra took the win at No. 3, beating Davis 6-2, 6-4, while Peters took a win from Donovan at No. 4, 6-3, 6-4. And Simone Kalhorne had the win over first-year Diana Shapoval at No. 6, 6-0, 6-2.

Columbia's bright spots proved to be big wins at Nos. 1, 2 and 5. Junior co-captain Natasha Makarova had a win at No. 2, as she beat Harman, 7-5, 6-2, while sophomore Eliza Matache had a big win at No. 5, beating Tan 6-2, 7-6(4). And first-year Nicole Bartnik rallied from a first set loss to take the win from CC Sardinha, winning the match in a third set super tiebreaker, 2-6, 7-6(7), 10-5.

Up next for the Lions is interstate rival Buffalo, who will come to the Dick Savitt Tennis Center for a 5 p.m. match, Saturday, February 20.


Syracuse 4, Columbia 3

Doubles
1.    Harman/Tan (SU) def. Bartnik/ Donovan (CU), 9-7
2.    Peters/Jones (SU) def. Makarova/Davis (CU), 8-5
3.    Natalia Christenson/Matache (CU) def. Sardinha/Kalhorn (SU), 8-5

Singles
1.    Nicole Bartnik (CU) def. CC Sardinha (SU), 2-6, 7-6(7), 10-5
2.    Natasha Makarova (CU) def. Emily Harman (SU), 7-5, 6-2
3.    Alessondra Parra (SU) def. Chelsea Davis (CU), 6-2, 6-4
4.    Eleanor Peters (SU) def. Carling Donovan (CU), 6-3, 6-4
5.    Eliza Matache (CU) def. Christina Tan (SU), 6-2, 7-6(4)
6.    Simone Kalhorne (SU) def. Diana Shapoval (CU), 6-0, 6-2