Women's tennis to host Long Island

The Lions are hungry for more wins.

Last weekend, the women’s tennis team saw mixed results against interstate rivals Syracuse and Buffalo, falling to Syracuse 4-3 but railing back in an inspiring victory over Buffalo 4-3 the next day.

The Lions ended their weekend on an outstanding note, defeating the Bulls in a nail-biting match that ended in a tie-breaker on the No. 5 single’s court. There, Light Blue sophomore Eliza Matache finished off her opponent, sending the Bulls home with a dent in their previously-undefeated record. The victory against Buffalo has given the women’s tennis team tremendous momentum as they prepare to take on local rival Long Island University.

Matache’s exciting win in the tiebreaker carried the Lions to victory, which has boosted their confidence as they head into Saturday’s match. Head coach Ilene Weintraub applauds Matache’s performance, crediting her win to her level head and resilient play.

“Eliza played really well on Saturday. During the match, I tried to remain calm and give her advice strictly tennis-wise,” she said. “I didn’t want to play on her emotions. There was no reason for me to put any extra pressure on her. I felt pretty confident that if she stuck to playing a strong game of tennis and kept a clear head, she would win, and that’s just what she did.”

The victory on Saturday was particularly satisfying considering Buffalo boasted a win against Cornell, a team Columbia recently lost to in the ECAC championships. Despite their loss against Syracuse the day before, the girls maintained strong mental focus and channeled it into defeating Buffalo the next day. The girls’ overall success on the court can be attributed to their persistence and confidence.

“I think the match against Syracuse gave them a lot of confidence,” Weintraub said. “Even though we lost 4-3, we were up in that first doubles match and were playing well overall. The girls realized they could have won and didn’t want that to happen again. We went into those matches against Buffalo knowing we didn’t want to fail.”

“The win [against Buffalo] definitely showed me that the girls are ready to compete against the top Ivy schools,” said Weintraub.

But before the Lions can prove themselves in the Ivy matches, they will have to face nonconference foe Long Island University. Last season, the Lions swept the Blackbirds, crushing them 7-0. But despite the success from last season, the Lions will see tough competition. Long Island is led by Selma Babic, a senior originally from Bosnia. In 2009, Babic was named Northeast Conference Player of the Year and earned a spot on the All-NEC First Team at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles, pairing with H’Ann Johnson. She also carried a 14-match win streak into the NCAA Tournament.

A particularly difficult test this weekend will be in the No. 1 doubles match where senior Carling Donovan and first year Nicole Bartnik are matched up with senior Selma Babic and freshman Aleksandra Pavlovic.

“Carling and Nikki have to stay relaxed and confident and have to focus on playing consistently. They’ve been a little inconsistently lately, especially on their serves,” Weintraub said. “I think they just need to get ready to play long points, play aggressively, and put away the shorts. Hopefully they can do that and bring back the win.”

“We feel pretty confident that we should win, but I think it’s important to never underestimate any opponent. Long Island has a really good number one player,” Weintraub explained. “We always have to be ready to compete. All of the Division one teams are playing to win, just like we are. It’s never a walk in the park. I’m pretty sure we have what it takes to bring home the win, though.”

Columbia will face local rival Long Island at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center on Saturday, Feb. 27th at 12pm.