Thursday, March 21
Las Vegas, Nev.
10:00 AM
Columbia University
at
UNLV
Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin
No. 35 Lions Travel to Las Vegas for Spring Break Trip
3/19/2019 4:22:00 PM | Women's Tennis
On nine-match win streak, Columbia plays at UNLV on Thursday and takes on UT-San Antonio on Friday; Both matches begin at 10 a.m. MT/Noon ET.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada—Riding a nine-match win streak, the No. 35 ranked Columbia women's tennis team (9-1) plays two Spring Break matches against host UNLV (Thursday) and UT-San Antonio (Friday) at the Frank and Vicki Fertitta Tennis Center. Both matches begin at 10 p.m. Mountain Time/Noon ET.
Columbia enters its annual Spring Break Trip with a 9-1 overall dual match record. The Lions' only loss came in their season-opener at No. 24 ranked Syracuse. Since then, the Lions have won nine straight. The nine-match win streak marks the second longest in Columbia women's tennis history. With two victories this weekend, the Lions would tie the school-record for longest win streak at 11 as Columbia won 11 consecutive matches from Feb. 28-April 13, 2014.
The Las Vegas Spring Break Trip is special for Columbia's five native Californians: Paulina Ferrari (La Jolla), Sarah Hu (Oakland), Jennifer Kerr (Carlsbad), Andrea Kevakian (Glendale) and Christie Wan (Rowland Heights).
Four weeks ago, Columbia earned its first national ranking of the season when it was rated No. 38 by the ITA. After coming in at No. 42 the following week, it enters its second straight week at No. 35 in the rankings. Columbia is one of two Ivy League teams listed in the ITA rankings as Princeton is No. 49 this week. Columbia is also ranked No. 33 in the Slam.Tennis rankings.
On Feb. 8-10, Columbia claimed its third all-time ECAC Indoor Championship as the Lions defeated host Yale (4-2), Penn (4-2) and Princeton (4-1) in the final. Columbia has now won ECAC titles in 2014, 2016 and now 2019 and head coach Ilene Weintraub won her third ECAC title.
Upon its return to New York City, Columbia opens Ivy League competition on Saturday, March 30 at Cornell.
SCOUTING UNLV
Host UNLV enters its matchup against Columbia with a 9-5 overall record and sports a 7-1 home record. UNLV has dropped three of its last four matches against top-flight competition: lost to San Diego State 4-3, defeated Michigan State 4-3, lost to Arizona 4-2 and lost to BYU 4-3. Prior to that stint, UNLV won seven straight.
The Runnin' Rebels are led by No. 96 ranked singles player Aiwen Zhu, who has accumulated a 21-6 overall record and 8-2 record in No. 1 singles matches. Zhu and doubles partner En-Pei Huang are rated the nation's No. 48 doubles team as the duo owns a 17-8 overall record. Huang is also 18-7 in singles matches. Anna Bogoslavets is 15-11 overall and Izumi Asano is 18-6.
SCOUTING UT-SAN ANTONIO
UT-San Antonio enters the weekend with a 10-8 overall record. No. 1 singles player Jasmin Starr is 9-8, Laura Cabrera is 10-6, Mariah Plauth is 9-6 and Kylee Kato is 10-5. Kato and Starr are the Roadrunners' top doubles duo with a 10-4 record.
COLUMBIA GAME NOTES
*No. 35 ranked Columbia (9-1) enters its Spring Break competition trip with a 9-1 overall record after winning nine straight matches.
*Seven Lions have won 10 or more singles matches: Akanksha Bhan (16-4), Christie Wan (14-4), Jennifer Kerr (14-9), Melissa Sakar (14-6), Yekaterina Alferova (11-7), Sarah Hu (11-5) and Andrea Kevakian (10-3). In doubles, Bhan and Paulina Ferrari are 11-5, Wan and Andrea Kevakian are 12-6 and Kerr and Hu have a 10-3 record. Overall, Columbia is 120-50 in singles matches and 49-25 in doubles matches.
*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, Weintraub guided the Lions to their first Ivy League Championship in 2013, led the program to a top-40 national ranking in 2016, captured three ECAC Championships (2014, 2016, 2019) 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.
Columbia enters its annual Spring Break Trip with a 9-1 overall dual match record. The Lions' only loss came in their season-opener at No. 24 ranked Syracuse. Since then, the Lions have won nine straight. The nine-match win streak marks the second longest in Columbia women's tennis history. With two victories this weekend, the Lions would tie the school-record for longest win streak at 11 as Columbia won 11 consecutive matches from Feb. 28-April 13, 2014.
The Las Vegas Spring Break Trip is special for Columbia's five native Californians: Paulina Ferrari (La Jolla), Sarah Hu (Oakland), Jennifer Kerr (Carlsbad), Andrea Kevakian (Glendale) and Christie Wan (Rowland Heights).
Four weeks ago, Columbia earned its first national ranking of the season when it was rated No. 38 by the ITA. After coming in at No. 42 the following week, it enters its second straight week at No. 35 in the rankings. Columbia is one of two Ivy League teams listed in the ITA rankings as Princeton is No. 49 this week. Columbia is also ranked No. 33 in the Slam.Tennis rankings.
On Feb. 8-10, Columbia claimed its third all-time ECAC Indoor Championship as the Lions defeated host Yale (4-2), Penn (4-2) and Princeton (4-1) in the final. Columbia has now won ECAC titles in 2014, 2016 and now 2019 and head coach Ilene Weintraub won her third ECAC title.
Upon its return to New York City, Columbia opens Ivy League competition on Saturday, March 30 at Cornell.
SCOUTING UNLV
Host UNLV enters its matchup against Columbia with a 9-5 overall record and sports a 7-1 home record. UNLV has dropped three of its last four matches against top-flight competition: lost to San Diego State 4-3, defeated Michigan State 4-3, lost to Arizona 4-2 and lost to BYU 4-3. Prior to that stint, UNLV won seven straight.
The Runnin' Rebels are led by No. 96 ranked singles player Aiwen Zhu, who has accumulated a 21-6 overall record and 8-2 record in No. 1 singles matches. Zhu and doubles partner En-Pei Huang are rated the nation's No. 48 doubles team as the duo owns a 17-8 overall record. Huang is also 18-7 in singles matches. Anna Bogoslavets is 15-11 overall and Izumi Asano is 18-6.
SCOUTING UT-SAN ANTONIO
UT-San Antonio enters the weekend with a 10-8 overall record. No. 1 singles player Jasmin Starr is 9-8, Laura Cabrera is 10-6, Mariah Plauth is 9-6 and Kylee Kato is 10-5. Kato and Starr are the Roadrunners' top doubles duo with a 10-4 record.
COLUMBIA GAME NOTES
*No. 35 ranked Columbia (9-1) enters its Spring Break competition trip with a 9-1 overall record after winning nine straight matches.
*Seven Lions have won 10 or more singles matches: Akanksha Bhan (16-4), Christie Wan (14-4), Jennifer Kerr (14-9), Melissa Sakar (14-6), Yekaterina Alferova (11-7), Sarah Hu (11-5) and Andrea Kevakian (10-3). In doubles, Bhan and Paulina Ferrari are 11-5, Wan and Andrea Kevakian are 12-6 and Kerr and Hu have a 10-3 record. Overall, Columbia is 120-50 in singles matches and 49-25 in doubles matches.
*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, Weintraub guided the Lions to their first Ivy League Championship in 2013, led the program to a top-40 national ranking in 2016, captured three ECAC Championships (2014, 2016, 2019) 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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