Saturday, February 23
New York, N.Y./Dick Savitt Tennis Center
1:00 PM
Columbia University
6
vs
1
Maryland
Photo by: Columbia University Athletics
No. 38 Lions Win Seventh Straight, Defeat Maryland 6-1
2/23/2019 3:41:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Lions improve to 7-1 on year; Jennifer Kerr, Melissa Sakar, Andrea Kevakian, Sarah Hu and Christie Wan claim singles wins as Lions defeat Big Ten Conference member Maryland.
NEW YORK—The No. 38 ranked women's tennis team extended its winning streak to seven matches as the Lions engineered a convincing 6-1 win over Big Ten Conference member Maryland Saturday afternoon at Dick Savitt Tennis Center. The win improves Columbia to 7-1 in dual matches on the year, while Maryland drops to 2-5.
Columbia's victory also avenged a closely contested 4-3 loss to Maryland last year.
"We lost to Maryland last year 4-3 in a very close match," Columbia Head Coach Ilene Weintraub said. "I was really happy to see us dominate today. It shows how far we've come as a program and that we're an even better and stronger team this year."
Columbia took a 1-0 lead as it led off the day by claiming the doubles point. Senior Andrea Kevakian and sophomore Christie Wan made quick work of Maryland's Anastasiia Gevel and Kat Yemelyanenka at No. 2 doubles with a 6-1 win. That gave the Lions the advantage as the other two matches were tough back-and-forth battles. Sophomore Jennifer Kerr and senior Sarah Hu came out on top of a tough 6-3 No. 3 doubles win over Maryland's Arnelle Sullivan and Amber Policare. Though they were losing, Columbia's No. 1 doubles team held off Maryland to enable the Lions' No. 3 team to clinch.
"The pressure was on the No. 3 doubles team to clinch," Weintraub said. "We didn't know what was happening at No. 1 doubles. The first doubles team did a great job of holding the score at 5-3 down to stay on the court, which took the pressure off the third doubles win. We had a good game plan at No. 3 doubles and Jennifer and Sarah stuck to the plan. That's what helped them win."
The singles matches started out well for the Lions. First-year Melissa Sakar gave Columbia a 2-0 advantage with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Maryland's Kat Yemelyanenka at No. 4 singles. Kerr fought off Maryland's Eva Alexandrova with a 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) win at No. 1 singles. That gave Columbia a 3-0 lead. Wan clinched the Lion victory with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 3 singles over Maryland's Anastasiia Gevel.
The Lions then captured two semi-close matches at No. 5 singles as Kevakian claimed a 7-5, 6-3 win over Maryland's Zoe Kulkarni and Hu took a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) win at No. 6 singles over Maryland's Amber Policare.
Weintraub was most pleased with the performances of Sakar and Kevakian.
"Melissa Sakar did a great job in getting off the court quickly in two sets," Weintraub said. "She did a great job starting us off and keeping our momentum after winning the doubles point. Her opponent was very strong and she did a good job of stepping up on those deuce points. Andrea did a great job of coming back from a deficit of 5-2 in the first set. She was also down 3-2 in the second set. Dre is extremely mentally tough and she doesn't let things faze her. That's the secret to her success."
The Lions' only loss came at No. 2 singles where Maryland's Millie Stretton defeated Columbia first-year Akanksha Bhan 6-2, 6-4.
Columbia continues its four-match homestand next weekend when it hosts Penn State on Saturday, March 2 at 2 p.m.
Columbia's victory also avenged a closely contested 4-3 loss to Maryland last year.
"We lost to Maryland last year 4-3 in a very close match," Columbia Head Coach Ilene Weintraub said. "I was really happy to see us dominate today. It shows how far we've come as a program and that we're an even better and stronger team this year."
Columbia took a 1-0 lead as it led off the day by claiming the doubles point. Senior Andrea Kevakian and sophomore Christie Wan made quick work of Maryland's Anastasiia Gevel and Kat Yemelyanenka at No. 2 doubles with a 6-1 win. That gave the Lions the advantage as the other two matches were tough back-and-forth battles. Sophomore Jennifer Kerr and senior Sarah Hu came out on top of a tough 6-3 No. 3 doubles win over Maryland's Arnelle Sullivan and Amber Policare. Though they were losing, Columbia's No. 1 doubles team held off Maryland to enable the Lions' No. 3 team to clinch.
"The pressure was on the No. 3 doubles team to clinch," Weintraub said. "We didn't know what was happening at No. 1 doubles. The first doubles team did a great job of holding the score at 5-3 down to stay on the court, which took the pressure off the third doubles win. We had a good game plan at No. 3 doubles and Jennifer and Sarah stuck to the plan. That's what helped them win."
The singles matches started out well for the Lions. First-year Melissa Sakar gave Columbia a 2-0 advantage with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Maryland's Kat Yemelyanenka at No. 4 singles. Kerr fought off Maryland's Eva Alexandrova with a 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) win at No. 1 singles. That gave Columbia a 3-0 lead. Wan clinched the Lion victory with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 3 singles over Maryland's Anastasiia Gevel.
The Lions then captured two semi-close matches at No. 5 singles as Kevakian claimed a 7-5, 6-3 win over Maryland's Zoe Kulkarni and Hu took a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) win at No. 6 singles over Maryland's Amber Policare.
Weintraub was most pleased with the performances of Sakar and Kevakian.
"Melissa Sakar did a great job in getting off the court quickly in two sets," Weintraub said. "She did a great job starting us off and keeping our momentum after winning the doubles point. Her opponent was very strong and she did a good job of stepping up on those deuce points. Andrea did a great job of coming back from a deficit of 5-2 in the first set. She was also down 3-2 in the second set. Dre is extremely mentally tough and she doesn't let things faze her. That's the secret to her success."
The Lions' only loss came at No. 2 singles where Maryland's Millie Stretton defeated Columbia first-year Akanksha Bhan 6-2, 6-4.
Columbia continues its four-match homestand next weekend when it hosts Penn State on Saturday, March 2 at 2 p.m.
🎾@CU_WT wins seventh straight match, improves to 7-1 on the season with 6-1 win over Maryland!#RoarLionRoar #GoColumbiaLions pic.twitter.com/iTUKbPl5mn
— Columbia W. Tennis (@CU_WT) February 23, 2019
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