The Lions will split a doubleheader to open the 2023 season

NORFOLK, Va. The Columbia women’s tennis team swept Morgan State in the second half of Saturday’s doubleheader after losing to Old Dominion to start the day at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center. Lions start the spring season with a 1-1 win.

MATCH 1 VS. THE OLD GOVERNMENT

Twosome Anna Zhang and Sofia Wang earned the Lions’ first win of the spring season in doubles to start the match against Old Dominion with an impressive 6-1 victory over No. 52 Alexandra Viktorovich/Allison Isaacs.

The Monarchs would come back to win the other two doubles matches to claim the singles point. ODU duo Tatsiana Sasnouskaya/Sofia Johnson defeated Columbia Fatima Keita/Rachel Rimondini, 6-2. Alesya Yakubovich/Shahar Biran then secured the singles point for ODU with a 6-4 win. Julia Haynes/Michelle Xu.

ODU won the singles matches on the top three courts and beat the Lions 4-0. Well. 37 Sasnouskaya (ODU) defeated Zhang (COL), 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1 to open singles play. Sophia Johnson (ODU) then defeated Haynes (COL), 7-5, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Well. 112 Biran seals Monarchs’ 6-4, 6-4 victory over Columbia’s My Shivani Amen at No. 3 in singles.

MATCH 2 VS. MORGAN STATE

The Lions bounced back in a big way and closed out Saturday with a decisive 7-0 win over Morgan State. Columbia came through in doubles winning all three matches to take the doubles point.

Zhang/Wang finished the day 2-0 in doubles on Court No. 1 as they beat Asmara Rose/Hannah Smith 6-2. Keita/Rimondini then picked up their first doubles win of 2023 with a 6-1 win over Averiana Mitchell/Lauryn Hall at No. 2 doubles. Haynes/Xu closed out the doubles match with a 6-0 win over Stefania Moysiad/Ana Aran Torrente at No. 3 doubles.

Singles action was the same story as Columbia won all six singles matches in two sets. Amineni beat Rose in the singles game 6-3, 6-0. Haynes won against Smith at No. 2 6-0, 6-2. Rimondini beat Mitchell at No. 3 singles 6-0, 6-3. Clarine Lerby saw action for the first time Saturday at No. 4, where he defeated Hall 6-1, 6-2. Xu won his match at No. 5 by defeating Torrente 6-2, 6-1. Alexandra Torre closed out the singles match with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Moysiad.

NEXT

The Lions will head to Malibu, California next weekend for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Columbia faces Memphis on Saturday before either Pepperdine or Clemson on Sunday.

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