Women’s Tennis Defeats Yale, Claims ECAC Championship

Sunday, February 11

Cambridge, Mass.

2:00 PM

Columbia University

Yale

Women’s Tennis Defeats Yale, Claims ECAC Championship

2/11/2024 10:39:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score (PDF)

Columbia wins its first ECAC title since 2020

By: Garret Sulak

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Columbia went down to the wire against Yale and came away with a 4-3 victory to claim the ECAC Championship on Sunday afternoon at Harvard's Murr Center.

This is Columbia's first ECAC title since the Lions won back-to-back championships in 2019 and 2020. The Lions defeated Ivy League foes Dartmouth, Brown and Yale to bring home the trophy and improve to 9-1 overall this season.

"We put in a lot of work on and off the court in the fall and during pre-season, focusing a lot on team culture, and we are starting to see some of it pay off," Columbia Women's Tennis Assistant Coach Nika Kukharchuk said. "This team deserves it, everyone fought extremely hard, stayed focused and stepped up in their roles. We had great team energy. As coaches we couldn't be prouder of how our players went about everything this weekend. We will take a few days to recover and celebrate but then it's right back to work as we look to carry this momentum forward."

Columbia won the doubles point to start the match, which proved to be critical in earning the win. The duo of Winta Tewolde and Rachele Rimondini earned the first win for the Lions with a 6-3 victory in the No. 3 position against Ann Wrigth Guerry and Jamie Kim.

Anna Zhang and Sophia Wang shifted down from their typical spot to the No. 2 doubles where they fought off Yale's Erin Ha and Shyla Aggarwal in a 6-4 win to clinch the doubles point for the Lions.

Zhang extended Columbia's lead to 2-0 at the start of singles play with a dominant, 6-1, 6-2 win over Aggarwal in the No. 2 singles. The Bulldogs answered with a win in the top singles as Orly Ogilvy defeated No. 107 Julia Haynes, 6-3, 6-1.

Gayathri Krishnan earned a 6-4, 6-3 win against Mirabelle Brettkelly in the No. 3 spot to pull the Lions within a point of clinching with a 3-1 lead.

Yale bounced back with back-to-back singles victories to tie the match, 3-3. Rebecca Lynn posted a 6-4, 6-2 win over Salma Farhat in the No. 6 singles and Guerry took a 6-1, 7-5 victory against Wang in the No. 5 spot.

The attention then turned to the No. 4 singles featuring Fatima Keita and Yale's Ha. Keita battled through the first set and won the tiebreaker. Keita pushed through in the second set to take a 7-6(5), 7-5 win to clinch the championship for Columbia.

The Lions have a break after this weekend before returning to action on the road. Columbia will travel to Michigan later this month to play at Michigan on February 23 and at Michigan State on February 25.

RESULTS
Columbia vs. Yale
Feb. 11, 2024 – Cambridge, Mass.

Columbia 4, Yale 3

DOUBLES
1. Gayathri Krishnan/Sophia Strugnell (COL) vs. Orly Ogilvy/Mirabelle Brettkelly (YALE), 5-6 (unfinished)
2. Anna Zhang/Sophia Wang (COL) def. Erin Ha/Shyla Aggarwal (YALE), 6-4
3. Winta Tewolde/Rachele Rimondini (COL) def. Ann Wright Guerry/Jamie Kim (YALE), 6-3

SINGLES
1. Orly Ogilvy (YALE) def. #107 Julia Haynes (COL), 6-3, 6-1
2. Anna Zhang (COL) def. Shyla Aggarwal (YALE), 6-1, 6-2
3. Gayathri Krishnan (COL) def. Mirabelle Brettkelly (YALE), 6-4, 6-3
4. Fatima Keita (COL) def. Erin Ha (YALE), 7-6(5), 7-5
5. Ann Wright Guerry (YALE) def. Sophia Wang (COL), 6-1, 7-5
6. Rebecca Lynn (YALE) def. Salma Farhat (COL), 6-4, 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (2,1,3,6,5,4)

FOLLOWING THE LIONS
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