Women's Tennis Swept by UMass and BostonU

The Columbia women’s tennis team was swept this weekend, falling to UMass, 4-3, and to Boston University, 7-0. The losses put the team at 3-5 for the spring.

The Lions got off to a fast start against the Minutemen by winning the doubles point. Eliza Matache teamed up with Natalia Christenson at No. 3 singles, and the duo won, 8-6, but Nina Suda and Linnae Goswami lost at No. 2 doubles, 8-2. The point came down to No. 1 doubles, in which Columbia’s top players, sophomores Stephanie Zilberman and Natasha Makarova, won a tight match, 9-7, to capture the point for Columbia.

“Stephanie and Natasha played a great match and came from behind to win,” head coach Ilene Weintraub said.

Makarova’s good fortune ran out in singles, however, as she was forced to retire with an injury, down 2-0 in the first set at No. 1 singles. At No. 2 singles, standout freshman Nicole Stanziola notched a win over Magdalena Pluch from UMass in three sets, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0. Fellow freshman Matache won in straight sets at No. 3, 6-1, 7-6.

The bottom of the lineup, however, faltered as Suda, Christenson, and Goswami, playing at No. 4, 5, and 6 singles, respectively, all lost in straight sets to give the Minutewomen the win.

“I thought we had a good chance in singles to win the match for a while,” Weintraub said, “We were winning three of the matches for a while. It was close and the girls fought really hard, and they all tried their best, and that’s all you can ask for.”

Hampering the Lions against the Minutemen was a bout of illness that ravaged the team prior to the match.

“Saturday [against UMass] was tough,” Weintraub said, “because we normally have a few girls [playing] who were sick this weekend. Carling Donovan plays singles and doubles and she was out with the flu.”

The Lions returned home to face the Boston University Terriers at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center on Sunday. The 19-time A-10 Champion Terriers, however, proved too tough a competition for Columbia, as they swept the Lions in all of the matches, winning 7-0.

“This was one of the best teams that we play all season,” Weintraub said.

“Natasha almost split sets with the No. 1 girl,” Weintraub continued, “and that should be a huge confidence builder for her. We were close all down the line, and I believe we will get a lot of confidence from that. I told the girls afterward that this will help us prepare down the road for conference play.”

The Lions will return to action this weekend against Temple on March 6 at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center. The match is scheduled to being at 2 p.m. and will be the Lions’ last match before they head to California for their annual spring-break training trip.