Ree Ree Li Clinches Match; Bulldogs Dominate at Doubles
NEW YORK - The Yale women's tennis team scored a resounding 4-3 victory over undefeated No. 33 Columbia on Saturday. Senior captain Ree Ree Li came back from a 6-0 first set loss to win at No. 3 singles and clinch the match for the Bulldogs. Saturday's win against Columbia improves Yale's record to 2-1 in the Ivy league.
At No. 1 doubles, senior Madeleine Hamilton and junior Tina Jiang competed against Rima Asatrian and Alexandra Solovyev in a rematch from the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship two months ago. While their match in February was left unfinished with the score at 6-5 in Yale's favor, Hamilton and Jiang pulled through to defeat Asatrian and Solovyev 6-4. This victory marks Hamilton and Jiang's 10th victory out of the past 12 matches. Meanwhile, Li and sophomore Carol Finke achieved their fourth straight victory, winning 6-4 against Kanika Vaidya and Adi Milstein in the No. 2 spot.r
Jiang was a two-time winner, cruising to a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Asatrian at No. 2 singles. Playing in the No. 6 spot, Finke comfortably defeated Vivian Cheng 6-2 in the first set, but Cheng managed to stay level with Finke throughout most of the second, forcing the set to a tiebreak. Nevertheless, Finke showed resilience, claiming the tiebreak 7-5 to win the match 6-2, 7-6(5).
Despite securing two points from singles in addition to the doubles point, the Bulldogs conceded three singles matches to the Lions, leaving Ree Ree Li's match against Makarome to decide the winner of the day. Makarome looked poised to win the match after taking the first set 6-0. Nonetheless, Li did not give up and remained calm and collected. Charging back to claim the second set 6-4, Li leveled the playing field by forcing the match to the third set. Using the momentum to her advantage, Li completed an impressive comeback to defeat Makarome 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 and clinch Yale's upset victory against Columbia.
Full results from Yale's match against Columbia can be found below.
After achieving a resounding victory against the Lions, the Bulldogs will hope for more success when they play Cornell on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
Report by Alice Yang '19, Yale Sports Publicity
Doubles
No. 1 -- Madeleine Hamilton/Tina Jiang (Yale) d. Rima Asatrian/Alexandra Solovyev (Columbia) 6-4
No. 2 -- Ree Ree Li/Carol Finke (Yale) d. Kanika Vaidya/Adi Milstein (Columbia) 6-4
No. 3 -- Sherry Li/Valerie Shklover (Yale) vs. Star Makarome/Andrea Kevakian (Columbia) 5-3, unfinished
Singles
No. 1 -- Kanika Vaidya (Columbia) d. Madeleine Hamilton (Yale) 7-5, 6-1
No. 2 -- Tina Jiang (Yale) d. Rima Asatrian (Columbia) 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 -- Ree Ree Li (Yale) d. Star Makarome (Columbia) 0-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 -- Alexandra Solovyev (Columbia) d. Sherry Li (Yale) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
No. 5 -- Andrea Kevakian (Columbia) d. Courtney Amos (Yale) 7-5, 6-4
No. 6 -- Carol Finke (Yale) d. Vivian Cheng (Columbia) 6-2, 7-6(5)
