Seniors Go Out with a Win, No. 44 Lions Defeat Harvard 4-2

Sunday, April 21

New York, N.Y./Dick Savitt Tennis Center

Noon

Columbia University

Harvard

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics

Seniors Go Out with a Win, No. 44 Lions Defeat Harvard 4-2

4/21/2019 5:59:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Match Boxscore (PDF)

First-year Melissa Sakar clinches match in dramatic fashion; Sakar, Akanksha Bhan, Jennifer Kerr and Christie Wan all win singles matches as seniors Andrea Kevakian and Sarah Hu conclude regular season with win.

NEW YORK—First-year Melissa Sakar won a hard-fought come-from-behind 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 match at No. 4 singles as No. 44 Columbia closed out its regular season with a 4-2 women's tennis victory over Harvard Sunday afternoon at Dick Savitt Tennis Center.

With the victory, Columbia sent its seniors Andrea Kevakian and Sarah Hu out with a win and concluded its 2019 regular season with a 15-4 overall and 4-3 record in Ivy League play. Harvard drops to 17-7 overall and 5-2 in Ivy League competition. With its 15^th victory, Columbia concludes its regular season with the second-highest season win total in its women's tennis history. The school-record still stands at 16 set by the 2014 team.

No. 44 ranked Columbia now sets its sights on a possible NCAA Tournament at-large bid. The 2019 NCAA Women's Tennis selection show is scheduled for Monday, April 29 at 6:30 p.m.

With Columbia leading 3-2, Sakar won her team-leading 20^th victory in dramatic fashion by defeating Harvard's Natasha Gonzalez 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. In the third set, Sakar trailed 4-2 before buckling down and building a 5-4 advantage. After Gonzalez tied the match at 5-5, Sakar claimed both of the last two points for the victory. It is the second straight day that Sakar registered the game-winning as point as she secured the fourth point in yesterday's 4-1 win over Dartmouth.

"Melissa did a great job clinching the match today in a high pressure situation," Columbia Head Coach Ilene Weintraub. "She has competed this yeaer with great resolve and toughness."

Columbia swept the top three singles matches to take a 3-1 lead. Bhan won a 6-4, 6-3 victory at No. 2 over Harvard's Jenna Friedel. Kerr then claimed a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win at No. 1 singles over Harvard's Erica Oosterhout. Wan then defeated Harvard's Rachel Lim 7-5, 6-3 at No. 3 singles.

After Harvard's Rachel Eason registered a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Kevakian at No. 5 singles, it came down to two matches at No. 4 and No. 6 singles. Sakar finished it off before Sarah Hu's match completed.

All three doubles matches came down to the end. In the end, it was decided at No. 1 doubles, where Harvard's Erica Oosterhout and Natasha Gonzalez won a 7-6 (8-6) win over Columbia sophomore Paulina Ferrari and first-year Akanksha Bhan to give the Crimson a 1-0 lead. Columbia's three doubles squads needed to battle back from early deficits and all three took 4-3 leads at the midway point of each match. Sophomore Jennifer Kerr and senior Sarah Hu gave the Lions the advantage with a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles over Harvard's Anna Li and Isabel Jasper. Harvard evened the score when Rachel Lim and Jenna Friedel won a hard-fought 7-5 win at No. 2 doubles over sophomore Christie Wan and senior Andrea Kevakian.

It is the first time Columbia defeated Harvard over a three-year span.

"I'm very proud of our two senior captains," Weintraub said. "They both had great careers here. Andrea has been a tremendous asset to us on the court and Sarah has been a great leader for us off the court. Together, they led this program this year in a way that was unmatched. Over the four years, they had ups and downs and they showed a lot of resiliency and ability to persevere no matter what happened."

Columbia seniors Sarah Hu and Andrea Kevakian were honored in a pre-match ceremony. Both celebrated the day with their families, who were in town from California.