Women's Tennis
The Light Blue (9-3) will face Cornell (8-4) in its first Ivy League matchup of the year this Saturday. Junior and No. 1 singles player Nicole Bartnik has led the Lions to a current four-match win streak, which began with the team’s two-match spring break trip to Florida on March 15. The Lions also boast a recent 5-2 victory over Cornell on Feb. 18 in the ECAC Indoor Championships, where the Light Blue swept the doubles category and top two singles matchups against the Big Red. Cornell looks to uphold its own win streak consisting of six consecutive away matches and also hopes to defeat Columbia for the sixth consecutive time in Ivy League play. The match will begin at 12 p.m. at Columbia’s Dick Savitt Tennis Center.
—Caroline Bowman
Rowing
The Light Blue will compete in three different competitions on Saturday. The heavyweight team will host the Alumni Cup, competing against MIT, Holy Cross, and Dartmouth at the Orchard Beach Lagoon. The lightweight team will go back-to-back with two regattas on Saturday, the first for the rights to the Fosburgh Cup in New Jersey against Princeton and Georgetown. Then, on less than five hours of rest, the lightweight rowing team will head back out to face the University of Delaware in Lake Carnegie at Princeton, N.J.
—Hahn Chang
Lacrosse
The Lions (1-6, 0-4 Ivy) will try to snap their five-game losing skid this weekend. Columbia will host a struggling Iona (5-4) team on Friday night—the Gaels have lost two of their last three games. Iona and Columbia both scored first in their previous match, but surrendered at least 10 consecutive goals. Iona fell to Stony Brook, while Columbia lost at No. 10 Dartmouth. On Sunday, Columbia will play at No. 8 Penn (5-2, 3-0 Ivy). The Quakers defeated No. 18 Cornell, 11-10, last Saturday, and have five players who have scored between 13 and 15 goals in the season. Only junior attacker Kacie Johnson and sophomore attacker Paige Cuscovitch have scored more than 13 times for the Light Blue. Friday’s game is set to begin at 7 p.m. at Robert K. Kraft Field. Sunday’s matchup will start at 1 p.m. in Philadelphia, Pa.
—Muneeb Alam
Softball
Having won three of its last four games, Columbia (6-15) begins Ivy League play with two home doubleheaders this weekend. The Light Blue will take on its first Ivy League opponent, Yale (6-12), in a doubleheader on Friday. Yale is 17-6 all time against the Lions, but the Bulldogs have struggled as of late, dropping five of their last six games. Yale is led offensively by outfielder Jennifer Ong and shortstop Meg Johnson, who have combined for 17 RBIs and are the only Bulldogs to hit over .300 this season. The Lions then face another Ancient Eight rival, Brown (3-11), in a doubleheader on Saturday. The Bears have had a rough stretch in nonconference play. Brown’s offense is anchored by junior Stephanie Thompson, who leads the team in RBIs, home runs, and batting average. Brown’s pitching staff combined has allowed more than seven runs per game on average throughout the season, but Thompson, who is hitting .475, has kept Brown competitive in games. The Lions’ Friday doubleheader against Yale will start at 2 p.m., while their Saturday doubleheader against Brown will start at 12:30 p.m. Both doubleheaders will be held at the Columbia Softball Field.
—Hahn Chang
