NEW YORK - The Columbia women's tennis team dropped a tough 7-0 match to No. 47 Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H. Saturday. With the loss, the Lions now stand at 9-10 overall, 0-3 in the Ivy League.
Similarly to Friday's match against Harvard, Columbia had tough losses at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles, while the duo at No. 3 nearly brought the Lions a win. In the top spot, first-year Chelsea Davis and Nicole Bartnik fell to nationally-ranked Molly Scott and Mary Beth Winningham, 8-3. At No.2, Katarina Kovacevic and Eliza Matache fell 8-1, and though they put up a fight, Natasha Makarova and Natalia Christenson fell at No. 3, 8-7(5).
Singles saw the two junior co-captains both play well on opposite ends of the lineup. In the top spot, Makarova nearly came back in the first set, falling 7-5, before dropping the second set, 6-3. And in the No. 6 spot, Christenson rallied back after losing the first set 6-2, to take the second set 6-4, and force a super tiebreaker. There, the junior lost 10-7, giving Dartmouth the advantage.
The rest of the Lions fell in straight sets to the Big Green. First-year Davis lost 6-1, 6-1 in the No. 2 spot, while her classmate Kovacevic fell 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3. Another first year, Diana Shapoval, fell 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 5 set, while sophomore Matache was playing at No. 4, where she lost 6-1, 6-2.
Up next for the Lions is a weekend at home full of Ivy League action. Columbia will play host to Ivy rivals Brown and Yale, Friday, April 9 and Saturday, April 10. Against Brown on Friday, the match will start at 2 p.m., while the Yale match on Saturday is slated to begin at noon.
No. 47 Dartmouth 7, Columbia 0
Doubles
1. No. 75 Scott/Winningham (DART) def. Bartnik/Davis (COL), 8-3
2. Adler/Smyser (DART) def. Kovacevic/Matache (COL), 8-1
3. Carissa King/Julia Zak (DART) def. Makarova/Christenson (COL), 8-7(5)
Singles
1. Molly Scott (DART) def. Natasha Makarova (COL), 7-5, 6-3
2. Sarah Leonard (DART) def. Chelsea Davis (COL), 6-1, 6-1
3. Mary Beth Winningham (DART) def. Katarina Kovacevic (COL), 6-3, 6-3
4. Jesse Adler (DART) def. Eliza Matache (COL), 6-1, 6-2
5. Georgiana Smyser (DART) def. Diana Shapoval (COL), 6-3, 6-4
6. Carley Markovitz (DART) def. Natalia Christenson (COL), 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (7)
