Friday, January 25
New York, N.Y./Dick Savitt Tennis Center
5:00 PM
Columbia
vs
Rhode Island
Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin
Women's Tennis to Host Rhode Island on Friday
1/24/2019 10:09:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Lions play first home dual match; host Rams for second consecutive season.
NEW YORK—The Columbia women's tennis team hosts Rhode Island in its spring home opener Friday at Dick Savitt Tennis Center. The match will begin at 5 p.m. ET.
The contest will be streamed live on ESPN+ and can be followed on twitter at this link. Court assignments and lineups will be announced on twitter as they become available prior to doubles and singles play begins. Each court will have its own separate watch link on ESPN+. Please see chart below to watch the corresponding singles or doubles match.
ESPN+ WATCH LINKS
Columbia plays its first home match after falling to No. 24 ranked Syracuse 5-2 last Sunday. The Lions had a chance to defeat their first top-25 team in school history but couldn't come away with the win. Sophomore Christie Wan (No. 3) and first-year Melissa Sakar (No. 4) both notched singles victories. Sophomore Jennifer Kerr went all the way to match point at No. 2 singles, senior Andrea Kevakian and senior Sarah Hu both had opportunities to claim wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles respectively.
Columbia Women's Tennis plays Syracuse for the second straight season. The Lions defeated the Rams 7-0 last January.
Last year, youthful Columbia accumulated a 12-8 overall and 4-3 Ivy League record. Nine experienced Lions return to the squad including two players who earned All-Ivy League honors in 2018: sophomore Christie Wan (Second Team Singles and Second Team Doubles) and sophomore Jennifer Kerr (Second Team Singles). Wan played primarily at the No. 1 singles position and No. 1 doubles position and finished 9-20 in singles last year. Kerr played at No. 2 singles and accumulated a spectacular 21-9 record and team-best 6-1 Ivy League slate. She also garnered 2018 ITA Northeast Region Player to Watch honors.
Also returning the Lions include senior Andrea Kevakian, who has accumulated a 60-26 singles and 42-33 career doubles record. Kevakian led the Lions with a 23-7 singles record last year. Senior Sarah Hu has seen significant action with a 34-30 career singles and 23-24 career doubles, while junior Ali Pollack has gone 34-21 in singles and 17-30 in doubles. Also playing keys roles are sophomore Paulina Ferrari, who was injured during the majority of the 2017-18 season, junior Renee Ren, sophomore Sarah Rahman and junior Brianna Williams.
Those players, along with tennisrecruiting.net's No. 12 ranked recruiting class make up the 2018-19 Lions.
Rhode Island is 2-2 in dual meets this season.
COLUMBIA MATCH NOTES
*Columbia (0-1) plays its first home match of the 2019 spring season at Dick Savitt Tennis Center when it hosts Rhode Island (2-2) on Friday, Jan. 25.
*Columbia completed a successful fall season which saw 10 of its 12 players register records of .500 or better. In singles, Akanksha Bhan posted a 9-2 singles record to lead the Lions. Caitie Sullivan and Renee Ren both contributed 7-1 records, Sarah Hu finished 8-3 and Andrea Kevakian went 6-2, Wan posted an 8-4 record, first-year Melissa Sakar at 7-4, while Jennifer Kerr and Yekaterina Alferova both finished 9-6. In doubles, Bhan and Paulina Ferrari finished 9-2, while Christie Wan and Andrea Kevakian combined for a 9-4 overall record.
*According to tennisrecruiting.net, Columbia welcomed the nation's No. 12 ranked incoming 2018 recruiting class in September. The four newcomers include first-years Melissa Sakar, Akanksha Bhan, Yekaterina Alferova and Caitie Sullivan. All four were ranked among the nation's top-100 players in the 2018 tennisrecruiting.net class: Sakar (No. 18), Bhan (No. 28), Alferova (No. 35) and Sullivan (No. 75).
*Head Coach Ilene Weintraub, CC '02 is in her 12th season at the helm of the Columbia women's tennis program. The winningest coach in school history with 110 dual match victories, Weintraub guided the Lions to their first Ivy League Championship in 2013, led the program to a top-40 national ranking in 2016, captured two ECAC Championships (2014 and 2016) and has recruited three national top-15 recruiting classes (No. 6 in 2015, No. 10 in 2017 and No. 12 in 2018) and four national top-20 recruiting classes in the last five years to Columbia. She was named the ITA Northeast Region Coach of the Year in both 2014 and 2016.
*Weintraub is joined by first-year assistant coach AJ Nelson and volunteer assistant coach Carlos Carrera.
The contest will be streamed live on ESPN+ and can be followed on twitter at this link. Court assignments and lineups will be announced on twitter as they become available prior to doubles and singles play begins. Each court will have its own separate watch link on ESPN+. Please see chart below to watch the corresponding singles or doubles match.
ESPN+ WATCH LINKS
Columbia plays its first home match after falling to No. 24 ranked Syracuse 5-2 last Sunday. The Lions had a chance to defeat their first top-25 team in school history but couldn't come away with the win. Sophomore Christie Wan (No. 3) and first-year Melissa Sakar (No. 4) both notched singles victories. Sophomore Jennifer Kerr went all the way to match point at No. 2 singles, senior Andrea Kevakian and senior Sarah Hu both had opportunities to claim wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles respectively.
Columbia Women's Tennis plays Syracuse for the second straight season. The Lions defeated the Rams 7-0 last January.
Last year, youthful Columbia accumulated a 12-8 overall and 4-3 Ivy League record. Nine experienced Lions return to the squad including two players who earned All-Ivy League honors in 2018: sophomore Christie Wan (Second Team Singles and Second Team Doubles) and sophomore Jennifer Kerr (Second Team Singles). Wan played primarily at the No. 1 singles position and No. 1 doubles position and finished 9-20 in singles last year. Kerr played at No. 2 singles and accumulated a spectacular 21-9 record and team-best 6-1 Ivy League slate. She also garnered 2018 ITA Northeast Region Player to Watch honors.
Also returning the Lions include senior Andrea Kevakian, who has accumulated a 60-26 singles and 42-33 career doubles record. Kevakian led the Lions with a 23-7 singles record last year. Senior Sarah Hu has seen significant action with a 34-30 career singles and 23-24 career doubles, while junior Ali Pollack has gone 34-21 in singles and 17-30 in doubles. Also playing keys roles are sophomore Paulina Ferrari, who was injured during the majority of the 2017-18 season, junior Renee Ren, sophomore Sarah Rahman and junior Brianna Williams.
Those players, along with tennisrecruiting.net's No. 12 ranked recruiting class make up the 2018-19 Lions.
Rhode Island is 2-2 in dual meets this season.
COLUMBIA MATCH NOTES
*Columbia (0-1) plays its first home match of the 2019 spring season at Dick Savitt Tennis Center when it hosts Rhode Island (2-2) on Friday, Jan. 25.
*Columbia completed a successful fall season which saw 10 of its 12 players register records of .500 or better. In singles, Akanksha Bhan posted a 9-2 singles record to lead the Lions. Caitie Sullivan and Renee Ren both contributed 7-1 records, Sarah Hu finished 8-3 and Andrea Kevakian went 6-2, Wan posted an 8-4 record, first-year Melissa Sakar at 7-4, while Jennifer Kerr and Yekaterina Alferova both finished 9-6. In doubles, Bhan and Paulina Ferrari finished 9-2, while Christie Wan and Andrea Kevakian combined for a 9-4 overall record.
*According to tennisrecruiting.net, Columbia welcomed the nation's No. 12 ranked incoming 2018 recruiting class in September. The four newcomers include first-years Melissa Sakar, Akanksha Bhan, Yekaterina Alferova and Caitie Sullivan. All four were ranked among the nation's top-100 players in the 2018 tennisrecruiting.net class: Sakar (No. 18), Bhan (No. 28), Alferova (No. 35) and Sullivan (No. 75).
*Head Coach Ilene Weintraub, CC '02 is in her 12th season at the helm of the Columbia women's tennis program. The winningest coach in school history with 110 dual match victories, Weintraub guided the Lions to their first Ivy League Championship in 2013, led the program to a top-40 national ranking in 2016, captured two ECAC Championships (2014 and 2016) and has recruited three national top-15 recruiting classes (No. 6 in 2015, No. 10 in 2017 and No. 12 in 2018) and four national top-20 recruiting classes in the last five years to Columbia. She was named the ITA Northeast Region Coach of the Year in both 2014 and 2016.
*Weintraub is joined by first-year assistant coach AJ Nelson and volunteer assistant coach Carlos Carrera.
Players Mentioned
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