Yale Athletics

This past weekend, both the Yale men’s and women’s tennis teams matched up with the Cornell Big Red and Columbia Lions. While the men’s team came into the weekend as the 50th-ranked team in the nation, the women entered the weekend ranked 69th. By Sunday, the women secured a perfect weekend, while the men struggled to find their rhythm on the road. 

“This weekend, the team really came together to deliver a high-energy performance,” Orly Ogilvy ’27 told the News. “The general attitude was that we wanted both matches more than Columbia or Cornell did, and I think that really showed in our willingness to stay out on the court and fight for every point. There was a ton of communication between courts, and we all got each other fired up.” 

Up first on Saturday for the women’s team was Cornell, whom they hosted at the Cullman Heyman Tennis Center. The Bulldogs got off to a strong start when Ogilvy and Erin Ha ’27 claimed the first doubles match, 6–2. Shyla Aggarwal ’27 and Mirabelle Brettkelly ’25 secured the doubles point for Yale when they took down Cornell’s Jenny Wong and Victoria Zhao 6–3. 

Yale continued their strong play into singles, winning three out of the four finished matches. Ogilvy completed a comeback to defeat Michelle Ryndin 3–6. 6–3, 6–1 and Aggarwal followed up on that by swiftly dismantling Zhao 6–3, 6–2. Ha dropped her match against Sage Loudon, but Brettkelly ended the Big Red’s hope at a comeback when she trounced Emma Baker 6–0, 6–3. 

Saturday’s success left the women’s team ready to go for their next match against another Ivy League foe on Sunday. 

The following day, the 72nd-ranked Columbia Lions came to New Haven hoping to spoil Yale’s perfect 5–0 home record. The Lions came out strong, snagging the first two doubles matches and putting the first point up on the board. However, the Bulldogs bounced back even stronger, winning four singles matches. Ogilvy defeated El Allami, and Julia Werdiger ’28 fought hard to beat Sophia Wang 7–5, 7–5. Yale closed out Columbia when Angela Huang ’28 beat Emily Baek 6–2, 6–3 and Brettkelly battled to take down Winta Tewolde 4–6, 6–4, 6–3. 

The Yale women’s tennis team moved to 6–0 as a result of their perfect weekend at home, securing a 4–1 score versus Cornell and a 4–2 score versus Columbia. They play next when Dartmouth comes to town on Friday, April 11. 

On the men’s side, the Bulldogs kicked off their weekend by taking a trip up to Ithaca to face the 40th-ranked Big Red. Not much went well for Yale as they started by dropping all three of their doubles matches. Cornell fed off the momentum gained by these wins to quickly close out the Bulldogs in singles, winning every singles match. 

On Sunday, Yale traveled into the city to take on the 8th-ranked Columbia Lions. Again, the Bulldogs got off to a slow start, dropping all three doubles matches. The Lions didn’t look back, winning the remainder of the singles matches and beating the Bulldogs 4–0. 

Notably, Yale’s first-seeded player Vignesh Gogineni ’26, who qualified earlier this year for the NCAA individual championship, was out for the weekend with a wrist injury. It is unclear whether he will return for the rest of the season. 

Despite the setbacks, the men’s tennis team looks to secure a win when they travel to Dartmouth on Friday, April 11. On Sunday, April 13, the Bulldogs will return home to host their Harvard Crimson rivals.