Women's tennis fails to advance at championships

After over five seasons, the women’s tennis team earned the opportunity to compete in the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships. As the host school, Columbia was presented the opportunity to participate in both singles and doubles. Sophomore Nicole Bartnik was selected to compete in singles and in doubles with her partner, freshman Bianca Sanon. The National Indoor titles eventually went to the No. 7-seeded Maria Sanchez of USC in the singles draw and Sophie Oyen and Allie Will of Florida in the doubles draw.

Facing fierce competition this week, Columbia could not advance to a second round in any of the draws. The high point for the Lions this weekend, however, occurred in the doubles consolation draw that Columbia eventually lost 9-7. For being a new doubles team, the women delivered a commendable performance. Friday’s nail-biter against Virginia saw Columbia only five points away from winning when it was up 15-40 on the opponent’s serve at 7-7 in the match. During the following point, Sanon missed a forehand wide and made the score 30-40. Then, the Light Blue duo made the score deuce after missing on a poach volley. Winning the game in the next point, the Virginia team brought the score to 8-7. Climbing from a 0-40 hole in the next game, Sanon and Bartnik railed back to 30-40 but were unable to clinch the match, as Virginia eventually won with a good volley on their third match point.

In the regular doubles draw, the game played by Bartnik and Sanon did not mirror the same level of closeness as the consolation. In this match, Columbia faced Tennessee and was defeated by a score of 8-4.

Along with her play in doubles, Nicole Bartnik also competed in the singles draw. She was the only player in the Ivy League to represent her team in both singles and doubles. Out of the 32 singles players in the competition, Bartnik was also one of two women to compete for the Ancient Eight in the singles draw. Faced with tough competition, though, Bartnik could not manage a win over her Florida opponent, losing in straight sets 6-2.

“Clearly, the competition consisted of the top girls in the nation” Bartnik said about the National Indoors. “But right now, it seems as though the competition in the Ivy League at the number-one position is equal to this weekend.”

The other Ivy League players fared similarly to Bartnik and Sanon in this weekend’s competition. No Ivy players were able to advance past the second round of matches. Yale’s doubles team of Vicky Brook and Lindsay Clark won its first match before falling to Alabama, while Penn’s Connie Hsu defeated her Florida opponent only to lose in a close second matchup against No. 4 Denise Muresan from Michigan.

This championship marks the end of a historic fall season in the women’s tennis program. After having the chance to finally compete in the National Indoors, No. 1 Bartnik has the right kind of motivation to push forward into the spring season.

“I am optimistic about my game going into the spring season” Bartnik said. “I have not had a lot of match play recently, and in both singles and doubles, I had some very close matches with top players. Of course, some of the results were not favorable, but as long as I feel that my game is improving with every match, I am happy.”

The Lions will now prepare for the spring season and will be back in action on Jan. 29 to host Fairleigh Dickenson at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center.