Lions Take Dramatic 4-3 Win Over No. 34 Washington State

Sunday, February 23

New York, N.Y.

1:00 PM

Columbia University

Washington State

Photo by: Mike McLaughlin

Lions Take Dramatic 4-3 Win Over No. 34 Washington State

2/23/2020 9:27:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Columbia 4, Washington State (Boxscore PDF)

First-year Julia Haynes breaks a 3-3 tie with a third-set tiebreaker at No. 6 singles to give the Lions their seventh consecutive victory and superb weekend which included a win over No. 25 Syracuse.

NEW YORK—First-year Julia Haynes claimed a third-set tiebreaker at No. 6 singles to give the Columbia women's tennis team a dramatic 4-3 victory over No. 34 ranked Washington State Sunday afternoon at Dick Savitt Tennis Center. The win culminated a successful 3-0 week for the Lions which saw them defeat Fairfield, No. 25 Syracuse and now No. 34 Washington State.

The victory marked Columbia's seventh in a row as the Lions improved to 9-2 in dual matches on the season. Columbia is a perfect 7-0 in February. Washington State dropped to 7-2 on the year.

Haynes broke a 3-3 tie with a comeback 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (4) victory over Washington State's Yang Lee. It marked the Lions' second 4-3 win this year as it captured the ECAC Indoor Championship with a 4-3 defeat of Yale.

Columbia had to battle from behind for the majority of the afternoon. Washington State won the doubles point as Michaela Bayerlova and Hikaru Sato won a 6-3 decision at No. 1 doubles over Columbia junior Paulina Ferrari and sophomore Akanksha Bhan. Columbia junior Jennifer Kerr and first-year Shivani Amineni gave the Lions the advantage with a 6-1 win at No. 3 doubles over Washington State's Jovana Knezevic and Pang Jittakoat. WSU's Melissa Ates and Yang Lee evened the score with a 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles over Columbia sophomore Melissa Sakar and first-year Michelle Xu.

Singles began when Columbia's Kerr tied the score at 1-1 with a quick 6-2, 6-1 win over WSU's Hikaru Sato at No. 2. The Cougars took the lead back when Michaela Baylerova won a 6-4, 6-4 decision over Bhan at No. 1 singles. Amineni then won a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory at No. 4 singles over Washington State's Ates.

Sakar gave Columbia a 3-2 lead with a hard-fought 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-3 win at No. 3 singles over WSU's Savana Ly-Nguyen. Sakar improved to a spectacular 21-2 in singles on the year. WSU's Pang Jittakoat tied the match at 3-3 with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (3) win over Columbia first-year Michelle Xu at No. 5 singles.

That set the stage for Haynes' victory-clinching performance.

Columbia is back in action next Friday when it hosts St. John's (11:30 a.m.) and Rhode Island (4 p.m.) for a doubleheader at Dick Savitt Tennis Center.