Friday, January 24
Chapel Hill, N.C.
10:00 A.M.
Columbia University
1
vs
4
Old Dominion
Photo by: Mike McLaughlin
Lions Fall 4-1 to Old Dominion in ITA Kick-Off First Round
1/24/2020 12:59:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Sophomore Melissa Sakar registers lone win for Lions; Lions to play Auburn in Consolation Match on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Sophomore Melissa Sakar won her singles match but it was not enough for the Columbia women's tennis team in the ITA Kick-Off First Round as Old Dominion notched a 4-1 win over the Lions Friday afternoon at the University of North Carolina's Cone-Kenfield Indoor Tennis Center.
With the loss, Columbia (2-1) will Auburn (2-1) in the ITA Kick-Off Consolation match on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. Auburn dropped a 4-0 decision to North Carolina in Friday's second match. Old Dominion (3-0) advances to the Championship to play the winner of the North Carolina-Auburn match at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. The winner of the Championship match advances to the ITA Indoor Nationals.
Old Dominion took the early lead and doubles point as it registered back-to-back victories at the No. 2 and No. 1 spots respectively. ODU's No. 2 doubles team of Shahar Biran and Alexandra Viktorovic claimed a 6-2 win over Columbia's duo of sophomore Akanksha Bhan and first-year Shivani Amineni. ODU's No. 1 doubles team of Alesya Yakubovich and Yulia Starodubseva, which entered the weekend ranked No. 8 nationally, then followed with a 6-2 defeat of Columbia junior Christie Wan and Sakar 6-2 to claim the point. The Lions' duo of first-year Michelle Xu and junior Paulina Ferrari held a 5-4 lead at No. 3 doubles when competition was halted.
In singles, Sakar quickly put the Lions on the board with a decisive 6-2, 6-2 win over Old Dominion's Brooke Pilkington at the No. 3 position. But Old Dominion answered with wins at No. 6 and No. 2 to take a 3-1 advantage. Old Dominion's Tatsiana Sasnouskaya defeated Columbia first-year Shivani Amineni 6-1, 7-5 at No. 6 singles and ODU's No. 107 ranked Yulia Starodubteseva won a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Columbia junior Jennifer Kerr at No. 2 singles.
Old Dominion's Holly Hutchinson, the nation's No. 47 ranked singles player, clinched the win for the Monarchs with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 win over No. 65 ranked Bhan at No. 1 singles.
Two other matches went unfinished. Columbia's Xu led ODU's Biran 2-6, 6-2, 4-3 at No. 5 singles and ODU's Yakubovich led Columbia's Wan 7-6, 5-5 at No. 4 singles.
Columbia is one of 60 NCAA Division I women's teams selected to compete in the ITA Kick-Off event. Selections were made in order of the final 2018-19 Oracle/ITA Tennis Rankings, which Columbia finished ranked No. 42 nationally. It is the sixth time and first year since 2017 that Columbia has been selected to compete in the ITA Kick-Off event.
With the loss, Columbia (2-1) will Auburn (2-1) in the ITA Kick-Off Consolation match on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. Auburn dropped a 4-0 decision to North Carolina in Friday's second match. Old Dominion (3-0) advances to the Championship to play the winner of the North Carolina-Auburn match at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. The winner of the Championship match advances to the ITA Indoor Nationals.
Old Dominion took the early lead and doubles point as it registered back-to-back victories at the No. 2 and No. 1 spots respectively. ODU's No. 2 doubles team of Shahar Biran and Alexandra Viktorovic claimed a 6-2 win over Columbia's duo of sophomore Akanksha Bhan and first-year Shivani Amineni. ODU's No. 1 doubles team of Alesya Yakubovich and Yulia Starodubseva, which entered the weekend ranked No. 8 nationally, then followed with a 6-2 defeat of Columbia junior Christie Wan and Sakar 6-2 to claim the point. The Lions' duo of first-year Michelle Xu and junior Paulina Ferrari held a 5-4 lead at No. 3 doubles when competition was halted.
In singles, Sakar quickly put the Lions on the board with a decisive 6-2, 6-2 win over Old Dominion's Brooke Pilkington at the No. 3 position. But Old Dominion answered with wins at No. 6 and No. 2 to take a 3-1 advantage. Old Dominion's Tatsiana Sasnouskaya defeated Columbia first-year Shivani Amineni 6-1, 7-5 at No. 6 singles and ODU's No. 107 ranked Yulia Starodubteseva won a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Columbia junior Jennifer Kerr at No. 2 singles.
Old Dominion's Holly Hutchinson, the nation's No. 47 ranked singles player, clinched the win for the Monarchs with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 win over No. 65 ranked Bhan at No. 1 singles.
Two other matches went unfinished. Columbia's Xu led ODU's Biran 2-6, 6-2, 4-3 at No. 5 singles and ODU's Yakubovich led Columbia's Wan 7-6, 5-5 at No. 4 singles.
Columbia is one of 60 NCAA Division I women's teams selected to compete in the ITA Kick-Off event. Selections were made in order of the final 2018-19 Oracle/ITA Tennis Rankings, which Columbia finished ranked No. 42 nationally. It is the sixth time and first year since 2017 that Columbia has been selected to compete in the ITA Kick-Off event.
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