NEW YORK -- Sisters Farida and Habiba Mohamed claimed consecutive 3-1 victories from the two-three spots as the No. 6 Columbia women's squash team (1-1) defeated visiting No. 8 Cornell 5-4 at the SL Green Street Squash Center. Columbia moves to 1-0 in conference while Cornell drops to 0-1.

"We knew today was going to be tough. We knew we had to play really well against a really good Cornell squad," reflected head coach Joanne Schickerling. "We came out much stronger than we did against UVA on Friday and secured the five earlier today. We have some great momentum that will carry through this season into the next. Overall, this was a great league opener."

Trailing 0-1 after the first game (8-11), H. Mohamed won the following three games (11-7, 11-3, 11-5) to defeat Ananya Dabke 3-2. F. Mohamed stepped onto court five next, winning the first game 11-4 over Wen Li Lai. Not to go down without a fight, Cornell collected a 7-11 victory to tie the second-seed match at 1-1. Mohamed eventually secured the victory with back to back wins (11-8,11-6).

Sixth and eighth seed victors, Ellie McVeigh and Renee Chan, earned their results in rapid fashion. McVeigh defeated McKenna Stoltz in just 18 minutes while Chan garnered her 3-0 result in 21.

From the fifth spot, Sarah Cao defeated Lily Zelov 3-1, claiming the first two games (11-7, 11-3) before ceding the third to Zelov 10-12. Undeterred, Cao decisively collected the fourth game 11-7 and subsequently the match-winning fifth point.

From the top spot, Simmi Chan fell just short of victory dropping her match 2-3. Clawing back from a pair of losses in the first two games (9-11, 10-12), Chan snagged 11-6 and 11-9 victories, moving the score to an even 2-2. In a tightly contested final game, Cornell's Sivasangari Subramaniam came away with the win, 9-11.

Columbia travels to Williams on Dec. 11 for a 3:00 p.m. match against the Ephs.

#6 Columbia 5, #8 Cornell 4
(1) Sivasangari Subramaniam (CORN) def. Simmi Chan (COL) 2-3 (11-9, 12-10, 6-11, 9-11, 11-9)
(2) Farida Mohamed (COL) def. Wen Li Lai (CORN) 3-1 (11-4, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6)
(3) Habiba Mohamed (COL) def. Ananya Dabke (CORN) 3-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-5)
(4) Selena Georgieva (CORN) def. Erica McGillicuddy (COL) 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-9)
(5) Sarah Cao (COL) def. Lily Zelov (CORN) 3-1 (11-7, 11-3, 10-12, 11-7)
(6) Ellie McVeigh (COL) def. McKenna Stoltz (CORN) 3-0 (11-4, 11-1, 11-5)
(7) Alexis Shatzman (CORN) def. Bunny Fox (COL) 3-2 (11-6, 8-11, 14-12, 9-11, 11-9)
(8) Renee Chan (COL) def. Sydney Bednar (CORN) 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-4)
(9) Ania LaDow (CORN) def. Jannia Singh (COL) 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-8)


For the latest on the Columbia squash programs, be sure to follow the teams on Twitter and Instagram (@CULionsSquash), on Facebook (Facebook.com/CULionsSquash), or by visiting GoColumbiaLions.com.