#5 Tartans Win Twice Over Division II Opponents
(ORLANDO, Fla.) - The fifth-ranked Carnegie Mellon University women's tennis team swept a pair of Division II institutions on Saturday in Orlando, Florida. The two wins moves the Tartans record to 13-2 overall.
The Cardinal and Gray started the day with a 7-0 blanking of University of Mary who record is now 9-2. The Tartans claimed the doubles point after collecting wins at first and second with both tandems winning 6-0. Senior Vinaya Rao (Vernon Hills, Ill. / Adlai E. Stevenson) and sophomore Lindy Cornwall (Poway, Calif. / Poway) played at the top spot while junior Alex Iordache (Princeton, N.J. / South Brunswick) and freshman Bin Zheng (Miami, Fla. / Doral Academy) played at second doubles.
Carnegie Mellon won all six singles matches in straight sets with Cornwall sealing the win for the second straight match. The sophomore won 6-0, 6-1 at second singles. The Tartans first point recorded in singles play was a 6-2, 6-0 win a four by sophomore Beata Liberchuk (Edgewater, N.J. / Dwight-Englewood) and then freshman Madeline Fidel (Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton North) won at third singles by the identical scores before Cornwall clinched the win.
In the Tartans 7-0 nightcap win over University of Sioux Falls (7-3), they tabbed a sweep in doubles to earn one-point for the team. Cornwall and Liberchuk paired together to recorded the first win in doubles at the three spot with a 6-1 victory. The Tartans top tandem of senior Courtney Ollis (Suffern, N.Y. / Suffern) and sophomore Danna Taylor (Orlando, Fla. / Circle Christian School) won 6-2 followed by a 6-4 win at second doubles by the duo of sophomore Janabelle Wu (San Jose, Calif. / Lynbrook) and Zheng.
Once again, the Tartans won all six singles matches in straight sets. This time Rao recorded the match-point for Carnegie Mellon with a 6-0, 6-2 win at first singles. Zheng started the scoring in singles with a 6-0, 6-0 win at the two spot and then Fidel won at three singles by the scores of 6-0, 6-1.
Carnegie Mellon will be back on the courts Sunday with an 11:30 match against McMurry University and a 6:00 p.m. contest with 13th-ranked Kenyon College.