New York, N.Y. - The Long Island University women's tennis team dropped its fifth consecutive match, falling to Columbia, 7-0, on Friday, March 25. In addition, the Blackbirds' March 26 match at Sacred Heart has been postponed due to inclement weather. The match will be made up on Friday, April 1 at 3:00 p.m.
The shorthanded Blackbirds (1-7) became even more shorthanded against the Lions. After playing the entire spring season without the services of junior Zelie Pfieffer, Long Island lost sophomore
Linn Sjogren to injury in its last match. Against Columbia, the Blackbirds were forced to forfeit points at the No. 5 and 6 singles positions as well as No. 3 doubles.
The remaining Blackbirds did not fare well. After dropping the remaining doubles matches to give Columbia a 1-0 lead, Long Island was swept in four singles matches. Sophomore
Taysha Blessington lost to Nicole Bartnik, 6-2; 7-5, at the No. 1 spot. At the second position, sophomore
Aleksandra Pavlovic was defeated by Katarina Kovacevic, 6-4; 6-1. The Lions' Tiana Takenaga downed freshman
Fatima Ouattara, 6-0; 6-3, at No. 3 while Ioana Alecsiu ousted senior
Dara Lahens at No. 4, 6-0; 6-3.
Long Island will return to the courts on Saturday, April 2 with a visit to Stony Brook at noon.
Columbia 7, Long Island 0
No. 5: Columbia wins by default
No. 6: Columbia wins by default
Doubles
No. 1. Bartnik/Natasha Makarova (COL) def. Pavlovic/Blessington (LIU), 8-5
No. 2: Bianca Sanon/Natalia Christenson (COL) def. Lahens/Ouattara (LIU), 8-1
No. 3. Columbia wins by default