NEW YORK – The 38^th-ranked Columbia women's tennis team started the Ivy League slate with a win by downing Cornell, 4-2 on Saturday afternoon at the Philip and Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center. The Lions are now 13-3 overall this season.
 
Columbia battled in doubles to take the early lead over Cornell. The duo of Anna Zhang and Sophia Wang posted a 6-4 win over Lauren Stein and Jenny Wong in the top doubles for Columbia's first win.
 
The No. 2 and 3 doubles both went to tiebreakers. Winta Tewolde and Rachele Rimondini held strong and pulled out a 7-6(7) victory over Michelle Ryndin and Alexandra Savu in the No. 3 spot to clinch the doubles point for the Lions.
 
Gayathri Krishnan and Sophia Strugnell battled back to force the tiebreaker and were within a point of winning the match when Tewolde and Rimondini clinched. Krishnan and Strugnell's match against Emma Baker and Victoria Zhao went unfinished, 6-6(6-4).
 
Cornell earned the first singles win of the match to even the team score, 1-1. Victoria Zhao took a 6-0, 6-2 win against Salma Farhat in the No. 6 singles.
 
The Lions answered back moments later to reclaim the lead as Krishnan finished off a 6-2, 6-2 win over Wong in the No. 4 spot. Fatima Keita then extended Columbia's lead, 3-1 with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Ryndin in the No. 2 singles.
 
The Big Red answered back to pull within one as Stein took a 6-4, 6-4 win over Zhang in the top singles match.
 
Tewolde clinched the Columbia victory with the win in the No. 5 singles. Tewolde worked through two sets to claim a 6-4, 6-3 win over Gia Graziano.
 
The Lions return to action next weekend with two matches. Columbia will hit the road to face Princeton for a 1 p.m. match Friday, April 5 before returning home to host Penn at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 7.
 
RESULTS
#38 Columbia 4, Cornell 2
 
Singles
1. Lauren Stein (COR) def. Anna Zhang (COL) 6-4, 6-4
2. Fatima Keita (COL) def. Michelle Ryndin (COR) 6-3, 6-1
3. Julia Haynes (COL) vs. Emma Baker (COR) 6-2, 4-5, unfinished
4. Gayathri Krishnan (COL) def. Jenny Wong (COR) 6-2, 6-2
5. Winta Tewolde (COL) def. Gia Graziano (COR) 6-4, 6-3
6. Victoria Zhao (COR) def. Salma Farhat (COL) 6-0, 6-2
 
Doubles
1. Anna Zhang/Sophia Wang (COL) def. Lauren Stein/Jenny Wong (COR) 6-4
2. Gayathri Krishnan/Sophia Strugnell (COL) vs. Emma Baker/Victoria Zhao (COR) 6-6 (6-4), unfinished
3. Winta Tewolde/Rachele Rimondini (COL) def. Michelle Ryndin/Alexandra Savu (COR) 7-6 (9-7)
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (6,4,2,1,5)
 
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