Lions Pair Reaches Finals at USTA/ITA Northeast Regional Championships
10/20/2014 9:11:00 PM | Women's Tennis
- Qualifying Draw
- Singles Main Draw
- Singles Main Draw - Quarterfinals to Finals
- Doubles Main Draw
- Doubles Main Draw - Semis/Finals
- Friday's Recap | Saturday's Recap | Sunday's Recap
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - With just one day remaining at the United States Tennis Association (USTA)/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), a Columbia women's tennis pair remains in contention. The No. 41 ranked pair of junior Kanika Vaidya and first-year Rima Asatrian won its semifinals match at Yale's Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center to advance to the championship.
Vaidya and Asatrian cruised through the table of 64 to advance to the semis where they battled with Boston College's Jessica Wacnik and Lexi Borr. The Lions took the first set, 6-4, but the Eagles leveled the playing field in the second set by a score of 406. Vaidya and Asatrian left nothing up to chance in the third set as the twosome swept Wacnik and Lexi to seal their finals fate.
Vaidya will take the court in her second regional final tomorrow while Asatrian will compete in the first of her collegiate career. The pair will via for the title versus the Yale's tandem Hanna Yu and Ree Ree Li who hold the home court advantage.
Columbia's regionals signals record book was closed early in the tournament as the Lions' history making trifecta ended its run today.
Vaidya and sophomore Tina Jiang fell victims to Ivy League rival racquets. Vaidya, the 85th-ranked player in the nation, dropped a 7-5, 6-1 decision to Taylor Ng of Dartmouth while Jiang was defeated by Harvard's June Lee, 6-2, 5-7, 4-2 (ret.). Asatrian also met a familiar face on the singles court as she clashed against the Eagles' Wacnik. Similar to her doubles match Asatrian took the first set (6-4), dropped the second (4-6), but this time it was Wacnik who swept the third, 6-0, to seal the win.
After Vaidya and Asatrian take the Bulldogs court in the finals tomorrow, Columbia will return to its fall slate next weekend when it travels to Orlando, Florida, for the ESPN/Florida State Invitational Oct. 31-Nov. 2.
Results
Doubles - Semifinals
No. 41 Vaidya/Asatrian def. Wacnik/Borr (Boston College) 7-5, 7-6(5)
Singles - Quarterfinals
No. 85 Kanika Vaidya lost to Taylor Ng (Dartmouth) 7-5, 6-1
No. 102 Tina Jiang lost to June Lee (Harvard) 6-2, 5-7, 4-2 (ret).
Rima Asatrian lost to Jessica Wacnik (Boston College) 6-4, 4-6, 6-0
