Big Green Host Two Conference Matches This Weekend

HANOVER, N.H. – The Dartmouth women's tennis team will open Ivy League play over the weekend, hosting Columbia on Friday and Cornell on Saturday, with both matches taking place at 2 p.m.

The Big Green (9-3, 0-0 Ivy League) has been ranked for the entirety of the season, sitting as high at No. 32 in the early stages of 2016 and now residing as the 49th-ranked team. Dartmouth spent Spring Break in California, defeating San Diego State (4-3) and UC Irvine (6-1) before falling to Long Beach State (5-2). The Green returned to Hanover over the weekend and defeated Houston, 6-1, in their final non-conference match of the season. Taylor Ng and Kristina Mathis have been a consistent powerhouse for Dartmouth in doubles play this season. The duo is an impressive 10-1 at the No. 1 position and has been ranked as high as seventh in the nation.

Columbia (9-4, 1-0 Ivy League) is the highest ranked of the Ancient Eight teams, sitting at No. 37 in the latest ITA National Rankings. The Lions enter the weekend with one Ivy win under the belts, defeating the Big Red by a score of 4-3 last Saturday. This will be the second time that Dartmouth and Columbia are meeting in 2016; the Lions defeated the Green, 4-3, in the semifinal of the ECAC Championship back in February.

Cornell (11-6, 0-1 Ivy League) is coming off a 4-3 loss on Saturday to Columbia, a defeat that ended the Big Red's six-match winning streak. During that undefeated two-week period, all but one match ended with a 7-0 victory. The last time the two teams met – which was in April of 2015 – Dartmouth had a 4-3 win over Cornell.

As conference season is just seven matches long, Dartmouth is nearing the end. After this weekend, the Big Green will hit the road for three straight matches against Princeton, Penn and Brown before returning to Hanover one last time to host Yale and Harvard.