Columbia
Maryland
Leung Seals 5-2 Win over No. 68 Maryland for No. 43 Women's Tennis
2/14/2015 6:46:00 PM | Women's Tennis
NEW YORK – For its second match inside the Dick Savitt Tennis Center this season, the No. 43 Columbia women's tennis team used the racquet of senior Crystal Leung to seal a win, as the Lions took down No. 68 Maryland, 5-2, Saturday afternoon.
The action got underway with the Lions taking the early advantage with the doubles point. Maryland's (2-4) Bredikhina's sisters, Olga and Nataliya, however, posted the first win of the day with an 8-2 defeat of Columbia's first-year pair of Alexandra Solovyev and Adi Milstein on the third doubles court. The Lions surged in the second and first spots, however, and quickly captured the doubles point. Junior Kanika Vaidya teamed up with rookie Rima Asatrian for an 8-6 win over Ekaterina Tour and Kristina Hovespyan at No. 2, while sophomore Tina Jiang and Leung combined for an 8-5 victory over Welma Luus and Alexandra Stanova.
Vaidya swept Tour, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 2 singles to keep the momentum in Columbia's favor.
The Lions and the Terps would trade points on courts five, one and three to make it a 3-2 match in favor of Columbia. On court five, Solovyev could not follow suit, as she fell to Luus, 6-1, 6-4. Jiang bested Stanova, 6-4, 7-5, on the first court and Asatrian fell in three sets to Nataliya Bredikhina, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
The spotlight fell on Leung in the fourth position. Against Hovsepyan, the Houston, Texas, native cruised to a 6-1 win in the first set, but fell 6-3 in the second. With the match on the line Leung battled and came out victorious, 7-5, to seal the win.
Vivian Cheng closed out the match with a 7-6(5), 6-3, triumph over Olga Bredikhina in the sixth spot.
Columbia heads back out on the road as it heads to University Park, Pennsylvania, next weekend for matches versus Penn State and VCU. The Lions will first take on the Nittany Lions Friday, Feb. 20 at 4:30 p.m., before competing against the Rams on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2 p.m.
RESULTS
Doubles
1 – Tina Jiang/Crystal Leung (Columbia) defeated. Welma Luus/Alexandra Stanova (Maryland) 8-5
2 – Kanika Vaidya/Rima Asatrian (Columbia) defeated Ekaterina Tour/Kristina Hovespyan (Maryland) 8-6
3 – Olga Bredikhina/Nataliya Bredikhina (Maryland) defeated Alexandra Solovyev/Adi Milstein (Columbia) 8-2
Singles
1 – Tina Jiang (Columbia) defeated Alexandra Stanova (Maryland) 6-4, 7-5
2 – Kanika Vaidya (Columbia) defeated Ekaterina Tour (Maryland) 6-1, 6-2
3 – Nataliya Bredikhina (Maryland) defeated Rima Asatrian (Columbia) 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
4 – Crystal Leung (Columbia) defeated Kristina Hovsepyan (Maryland) 6-1, 3-6, 7-5
5 – Welma Luus (Maryland) defeated Alexandra Solovyev (Columbia) 6-1, 6-4
6 – Vivian Cheng (Columbia) defeated Olga Bredikhina (Maryland) 7-6(5), 6-3
Order of Finish (D) 3,2,1 (S) 2, 5, 1, 3, 4, 6
