Wednesday, February 23
Harrison, N.Y./LifeTime Westchester
Noon
Columbia University
4
vs
2
St. John's
Photo by: Mike McLaughlin
Lions Defeat Both St. John's, NJIT in Doubleheader
2/23/2022 8:28:00 PM | Women's Tennis
No. 46 Columbia registers a 4-2 win over St. John’s, takes 4-0 shutout decision against NJIT in Wednesday doubleheader at LifeTime Westchester.
HARRISON, N.Y.—The No. 46 ranked Columbia women's tennis team picked up back-to-back victories against Northeast Region teams—defeating both St. John's 4-2 and NJIT 4-0—in a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at LifeTime Westchester. With the victories, Columbia has won six of its last seven matches and improves to 8-2 on the year.
The Lions were informed between matches that they had earned a No. 46 rating in the latest ITA national rankings. According to Wednesday's poll, the Lions have the opportunity to defeat eight more ranked teams later in the year including Miami, Fla. (15), Michigan (16), Old Dominion (22), San Diego (31), Princeton (43), Iowa State (45), Michigan State (60), and Washington State (65). Columbia and Princeton are the only two ranked Ivy League teams.
Columbia 4, St. John's 2
St. John's took advantage early as it claimed the doubles point. St. John's Willa Bay Breunich and Camila Ordonez won a 6-1 decision at No. 2 doubles over Columbia's Jennifer Kerr and Shivani Amineni, then the Lions followed with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-4) win at No. 3 doubles by Clarine Lerby and Sophia Strugnell over Yesica De Lucas and Amaya Lopez. St. John's took the point when Lalita Devarakonda and Mouna Bouzgarrou followed with a tough 7-6 (7-5) victory over Columbia's Akanksha Bhan and Anna Zhang.
But Columbia's singles strength was evident at the Lions won four of the five matches to down the Red Storm. Melissa Sakar evened the score at 1-1 and made quick work of St. John's Willa Bay Breunich, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles, then St. John's followed with a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles as Yesica De Lucas defeated Kerr.
With St. John's leading 2-1, Columbia rallied for three straight singles matches to register the win. Clarine Lerby defeated Camilla Ordonez 6-3, 6-1 at No. 5 singles, Michelle Xu won a 6-2, 6-2 match over Amaya Lopez, and Akanksha Bhan clinched the victory for Columbia with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) win over St. John's Mouna Bouzgarrou at No. 1 singles.
St. John's dropped to 5-3 on the year.
Columbia 4, NJIT 0
Columbia registered its second shutout win of the season with a 4-0 victory over NJIT. The Lions jumped out quickly to a 1-0 lead by capturing the doubles point. Bhan and Zhang defeated NJIT's Aya El Sayed and Sandra Dzhambazov 6-3 at No. 1 doubles, then Winta Tewolde and Amineni claimed a 7-5 match vs. Shalom Salvi and Joleta Budiman at No. 2 doubles.
The Lions continued the momentum in singles as Kerr earned a 6-0, 6-4 decision at No. 1 over NJIT's Joleta Budiman, Anna Zhang followed with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles over NJIT's Aya El Sayed. Then Rachelle Rimondini clinched the match with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) win over NJIT's Dzhambazov at No. 5 singles.
NJIT dropped to 4-3 on the year.
No. 46 Columbia is back in action on Friday when it hosts No. 45 Iowa State at 1 p.m. at LifeTime Westminster. The Lions close out their week by hosting No. 65 Washington State at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
The Lions were informed between matches that they had earned a No. 46 rating in the latest ITA national rankings. According to Wednesday's poll, the Lions have the opportunity to defeat eight more ranked teams later in the year including Miami, Fla. (15), Michigan (16), Old Dominion (22), San Diego (31), Princeton (43), Iowa State (45), Michigan State (60), and Washington State (65). Columbia and Princeton are the only two ranked Ivy League teams.
Columbia 4, St. John's 2
St. John's took advantage early as it claimed the doubles point. St. John's Willa Bay Breunich and Camila Ordonez won a 6-1 decision at No. 2 doubles over Columbia's Jennifer Kerr and Shivani Amineni, then the Lions followed with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-4) win at No. 3 doubles by Clarine Lerby and Sophia Strugnell over Yesica De Lucas and Amaya Lopez. St. John's took the point when Lalita Devarakonda and Mouna Bouzgarrou followed with a tough 7-6 (7-5) victory over Columbia's Akanksha Bhan and Anna Zhang.
But Columbia's singles strength was evident at the Lions won four of the five matches to down the Red Storm. Melissa Sakar evened the score at 1-1 and made quick work of St. John's Willa Bay Breunich, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles, then St. John's followed with a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles as Yesica De Lucas defeated Kerr.
With St. John's leading 2-1, Columbia rallied for three straight singles matches to register the win. Clarine Lerby defeated Camilla Ordonez 6-3, 6-1 at No. 5 singles, Michelle Xu won a 6-2, 6-2 match over Amaya Lopez, and Akanksha Bhan clinched the victory for Columbia with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) win over St. John's Mouna Bouzgarrou at No. 1 singles.
St. John's dropped to 5-3 on the year.
Columbia 4, NJIT 0
Columbia registered its second shutout win of the season with a 4-0 victory over NJIT. The Lions jumped out quickly to a 1-0 lead by capturing the doubles point. Bhan and Zhang defeated NJIT's Aya El Sayed and Sandra Dzhambazov 6-3 at No. 1 doubles, then Winta Tewolde and Amineni claimed a 7-5 match vs. Shalom Salvi and Joleta Budiman at No. 2 doubles.
The Lions continued the momentum in singles as Kerr earned a 6-0, 6-4 decision at No. 1 over NJIT's Joleta Budiman, Anna Zhang followed with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles over NJIT's Aya El Sayed. Then Rachelle Rimondini clinched the match with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) win over NJIT's Dzhambazov at No. 5 singles.
NJIT dropped to 4-3 on the year.
No. 46 Columbia is back in action on Friday when it hosts No. 45 Iowa State at 1 p.m. at LifeTime Westminster. The Lions close out their week by hosting No. 65 Washington State at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
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