Hideko Tachibana (pictured) and the Crimson travel to
Cornell and Columbia this weekend (Gil Talbot).
The Particulars
The No. 54 Harvard women's tennis team will open Ivy League
play this weekend as it first visits Cornell Friday afternoon,
followed by a match at Columbia Saturday. It will be the second
meeting this spring for the Crimson and the Big Red as the two
teams met in the opening round of the ECAC Indoor Championship.
Harvard won that match, 6-1. It will be the first meeting of the
season between the Crimson and the Lions.
About Harvard
Weather has wreaked havoc on the Crimson's schedule
throughout March as Harvard has only been able to play one match
since Feb. 27. The Crimson took down San Francisco, 6-1, at the
Golden Gate Park March 17.
As a team, Harvard sits at 5-6 this season heading into Ancient
Eight play. Holly Cao holds an undefeated 9-0 record as the top
singles player for the Crimson this spring. Kristin Norton is 7-4
in singles matches, while Hideko Tachibana is 6-4.
Norton and Tachibana, as a duo, have played to a 4-3 record in
doubles to lead the Crimson. Cao has paired with both Natalie
Blosser and Hannah Morrill this season, grabbing two wins with
each.
About Cornell
The Big Red stands at 8-5 in 2011. The match against the Crimson
kicks off a three-match homestand for Cornell following three
straight road matches. The Big Red faced off against College of
Charleston, Presbyterian and North Carolina-Wilmington March 22-24,
going 1-2 with a win of Presbyterian.
Ryann Young picked up two wins over that three-match span as
Cornell's No. 2. Young won matches over opponents from UNCW
and Presbyterian.
About Columbia
The Lions are 9-6 this season, going 2-3 in the month of March.
Columbia swept Colorado State and Long Island, but fell to Long
Beach State, Loyola Marymount and Cal State Northridge.
Nicole Bartnik leads the Lions with a 9-2 singles record in the
No. 1 spot. Tiana Takenaga is 7-1 in singles, having played matches
in the Nos. 3-6 spots.
Looking Ahead
The Ivy slate continues April 9-10 as Penn and Princeton travel to
Cambridge to take on the Crimson.
