CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard women's tennis (5-2, 0-0 Ivy) posted a strong bounce back win by downing Cornell (2-3, 0-0 Ivy), 4-0, this morning in the Murr Center. 

How it Happened

The Crimson started the day by grabbing the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and 3 positions.  Stephanie Yakoff and Holly Fischer picked up their second win of the weekend by breezing past Michelle Ryndin and Alexandra Savu (Cornell), 6-0.  While Cornell took the No. 2 match, Harvard ultimately stole the doubles point as Natalie Block and Sany Gawande powered to a 6-4 victory. 
 
The Crimson went to work quickly beginning with Kate Kim picking up a bounce back straight set victory at the No. 5 spot.  When downing Alexandra Savu (Cornell), the Crimson first-year dropped just two total games.  Kim continues to lead the team in singles victory by improving to 15-4 overall and 5-1 in dual action. 
 
Fellow first-year Kavya Karra pulled the Crimson within a point of clinching by registering another dominant victory.  Playing at the No. 6 position, Karra dropped the least number of games of any Crimson player by only letting up one to Martina Marica (Cornell). 
 
Yakoff rounded out the trio of first-year victories and clinched the match by defeating Michelle Ryndin (Cornell) at the No. 3 position with three matches outstanding.  While Fischer and Maxi Duncan did not complete their singles matches, they both held large leads over their opponents at the conclusion of play. 

Harvard Highlights

• The first-years of Harvard women's tennis continue to post strong performances for the squad as each singles win this morning came courtesy of a Crimson newcomer. 
• Kate Kim continues to have a dominant first year with the Crimson as she has accumulated 15 total singles wins and holds a 5-1 record in dual action. 
• Kavya Karra posted the most dominant win of the day by dropping just one game to her opponent in the straight set victory. 
• Stephanie Yakoff picked up wins in both doubles and singles action to help the Crimson sweep the Big Red.  With partner Holly Fischer, the Crimson duo improved to 4-2 overall after picking up its second win of the weekend. 
• With their doubles point clinching win, Natalie Block and Sany Gawande improved to 4-0 in dual action and 6-0 overall. 
• With the win the Crimson improved its already dominant all-time series advantage to 44-5 over the Big Red.  The victory marks Harvard's eighth straight defeat of Cornell. 

Results

Harvard – 4, Cornell – 0
Doubles

1. Holly Fischer/Stephanie Yakoff def. Michelle Ryndin/Alexandra Savu (Cornell), 6-0
2. Victoria Zhao/Jenny Wong (Cornell) def. Rachel Arbitman/Iveta Daujotaite, 6-4
3. Natalie Block/Sany Gawande def. Emma Baker/Gia Graziano (Cornell), 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles

1. Holly Fischer vs. Emma Baker (Cornell), 6-0, 3-2 DNF
2. Charlotte Owensby vs. Michelle Ryndin (Cornell), 6-7, 0-1 DNF
3. Stephanie Yakoff def. Jenny Wong (Cornell), 6-1, 6-3
4. Maxi Duncan vs. Gia Graziano (Cornell), 6-3, 4-1 DNF
5. Kate Kim def. Alexandra Savu (Cornell), 6-2, 6-0
6. Kavya Karra def. Martina Marica (Cornell), 6-0, 6-1

Order of finish: 5, 6, 3

Next Up

The Crimson will close out ECAC Championship action tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. against the Dartmouth Big Green.