No. 38 Lions Drop 5-2 Decision at No. 32 Michigan

Sunday, March 13

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Noon

Columbia University

No. 32 Michigan

Photo by: Mike McLaughlin

No. 38 Lions Drop 5-2 Decision at No. 32 Michigan

3/13/2022 4:20:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Anna Zhang wins No. 2 singles match, Lions take doubles point as Rachele Rimondini & Shivani Amineni and Winta Tewolde & Zhang claim wins.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The No. 38 ranked Columbia Women's Tennis team took on its fourth consecutive nationally ranked opponent as it dropped a close 5-2 decision at No. 32 Michigan Sunday afternoon in Ann Arbor. The match represented the second of a two-match road trip to Michigan. With the loss, Columbia drops to 10-4 on the year, while Michigan improves to 7-4.

For the second straight match, Columbia took a 1-0 lead as it claimed the doubles point. Michigan's Jaedan Brown and Andrea Cerdan gave the Wolverines the advantage with a 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles over Melissa Sakar and Akanksha Bhan. But the Lions won the final two matches to take the point as Rachele Rimondini and Shivani Amineni teamed for a 6-3 win at No. 2 doubles over Michigan's Anca Craciun and Nicole Hammond, then Anna Zhang and Winta Tewolde rallied for a 6-4 win over Michigan's Merri Kelly and Kari Miller at No. 3. It marked Columbia's third straight victory at doubles.

Zhang started singles out with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Michigan's No. 61 Brown at No. 2 singles. The win gave Columbia a commanding 2-0 lead, but Michigan would go on to win the singles matches. Gala Mesochoritou defeated Columbia's Amineni 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6 singles, No. 93 Nicole Hammond won a hard-fought 7-6 (1), 6-4 decision at No. 3 over Columbia's Jennifer Kerr, and No .13 ranked Miller claimed a tough 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles over Columbia's No. 121 Akanksha Bhan to give Michigan a 3-2 lead.

Michigan's No. 76 ranked Andrea Cerdan clinched the win with a three-set 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 win over Columbia's Melissa Sakar at No. 4 singles, and Julia Fliegner followed with another three-set 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 win over Columbia's Julia Haynes.

Columbia is back in action on Friday, March 18 at nationally ranked San Diego.