The women had a tough weekend at home as they lost on Friday to Harvard and on Saturday to Dartmouth.

Harvard, ranked 54 in the nation, did not drop a single set against the Red.

“Against Harvard we had a close match, but we didn’t win enough of the big points which is so important,” said sophomore Christine Ordway.

Despite the unfavorable results of the match, senior co-captain Sinziana Chis said she was satisfied with the effort put forth by the entire team.

“Harvard came out strong,” she said. “They are ranked in the top 50 of the nation … we struggled against them, they are a really strong team and they played really well. Our team tried hard but nobody was able to pull it through. We fought really hard though, which was nice to see.”

Head coach Mike Stevens discussed that even though the team lost, it was still helpful for the team to play such a tough competitor and prepare for the rest of the Ivy season.

“Harvard was just a level better than us in both singles and doubles,” he said. “The girls competed hard which was good, we just aren’t at the level of the Harvard team at this point. It was a good match; they all learned the things they still need to work on. It was good as far as getting great competition in against a very good team. I think it helped the team going into our match against Dartmouth.”

Although Cornell ultimately fell to Dartmouth on Saturday, the match was a lot closer, with a final score of 4-3.

“The Dartmouth match was very upsetting,” Steven said. “They played really well. We played well on the doubles and then Dartmouth just came back and was just too strong for us in two of the [remaining] matches.”

Most of the sets were extremely close and one of the singles matches even went to a third set.

“We had a really close match against Dartmouth,” Ordway said. “I think that just came down to being focused and winning those few points that could have been the difference. We lost 4-3 so it was really tight every match. It just came back to a few points where we had to be mentally tough and not lose those points but we did.” 

The team is not losing hope despite the two losses. 

“Certainly both matches were disappointing to lose, no one likes to lose,” Stevens said. “It was disappointing overall but I think the team is getting better overall and [the weekend] will certainly help us move forward as a program.”

Chis agreed that the closer margin against Dartmouth was a positive sign.

“We can definitely use that to get pumped up for future matches,” she said.

The team is trying to incorporate what it experienced this weekend into practice as it prepares for more Ivy matches this week.

“We are working on all the things we’ve been saying, really trying to be focused throughout the entire three hours of practice,” Ordway said. “We are trying to make every point matter, make every shot we hit mean something, not be distracted and not to goof off.”

The Red looks forward for the challenges ahead.

“Everyone is pumped up to play, everyone’s excited. This is what we’ve worked for all season, to play these tough matches against other Ivy League schools,” Chis said.

Cornell will take on Columbia at home this afternoon and is set to face Brown and Yale on the road this weekend.

The Red played Columbia just a few weeks ago, in what turned out to be a tight match.

“We played them six weeks ago and it came down to the wire in that one, so we’re expecting another nail-bitter here,” Stevens said. “The girls are very excited ... It’s going to be a close math again. They are paying very well; Columbia has a very good lineup 

Were looking forward to trying to turn the tables on them.”

This weekend will be a tough one for the Red as well, as it takes on the two highest ranked Ivy teams right now. 

“Yale is 29th in the country, Brown is in the 30’s — both teams are very good,” Stevens said. “They are going to be challenging matches for us. But these are the matches we need to play to get better. Anything can happen this time of year, we just need to focus on today first. We just need to go into it with a little momentum behind us and see what we can do.”

The men met with more success as they beat both Harvard on Friday and Dartmouth on Saturday. In both the contests, the Red won by a nail-bitting score of 4-3.

“They were very tight matches,” said head coach Tony Bresky.  “All the Ivy teams are good this year, it’s a very close conference. It’s always tough to play on the road. Harvard and Dartmouth played tough but we were fortunate enough to come out with the win.”

The Red beat Harvard back in February at the ECACs, 5-2, and was able to pull off another win on Friday. 

“It was actually a really exciting match …  it came down to McElwain, a freshmen playing against a sophomore for the decider in the third set. [He] ended up winning a pretty tight set … it was really exiting, we were happy to win that one,” said senior tri-captain Andy Gauthier.

Cornell was in a similar situation against Dartmouth on Saturday, but once again managed to pull through and get the win.

“It was a crazy weekend,” Gauthier said. 

Bresky credits this victory to the team as a whole, as especially in such a tight contest, every point counts.

“Andy Gauthier won matches both days that was key, but really to be honest over all it was a total team effort,” Bresky said. “We had different guys step up on different days, everyone won at some point. The matches were really tough I think it was just a matter of the whole team stepping up at the same time.”

One of the team’s biggest challenges this weekend was staying focused despite distractions from their surroundings.

“It was challenging ignoring and being able to deal with the rowdy fans,” Gauthier said. “Both places brought a lot of people, they were really excited. I think we were the top team going into things, so we had to focus on just being able to go in with a lot of people there and winning the matches that got long, keeping focus throughout the whole match.”

This weekend, the team hopes this same feature can work to its advantage as they take on Brown on Saturday and Yale on Sunday, both at home.

“Both are obviously very good teams, very deep, well coached. Yale had a couple of tough matches over the weekend, as did Brown, again it just comes down to getting some good scouting responses, hopefully matching up well and coming out strong for both matches,” Bresky said. “We hope to get a good crowd out so we can have the advantage of playing at home.”

If the weather permits, the Sunday match may even be outdoors.

“It should be a fun weekend,” Gauthier said. “They are both good teams, players one through six, so we’ll see how it goes. It should be nice Sunday so we should be outside which is good, that should play into our favor a little because they aren’t used to our courts. Hopefully these matches are not as close as the last ones, but we’ll see how it goes.”