MIAMI, FL -- The Rutgers women’s tennis team (5-5, 2-2 BIG EAST) defeated Cornell, 4-3, on Monday afternoon on the campus of the University of Miami in the first of three matches the team will play during its spring break trip to south Florida. Despite losing the doubles point, the Scarlet Knights won four singles matches to earn the victory.

After surrendering the doubles point, falling in all three matches the women rebounded strong by taking the top four singles matches to capture the victory. At No. 1 singles, it was Andrea Weckstein (Holmdel, NJ) defeating Akane Kokubo, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. Senior Carissa Sommerlad (Bradley Beach, NJ) downed Cornell’s Laura Tallent, 7-5, 7-5, at the No. 2 spot. No. 3 singles saw senior Jennifer Hellier (Annapolis, MD) take the win over Erika Takeuchi, 6-3, 6-2. RU’s decisive fourth point came when Alina Balasa (East Brunswick, NJ) defeated Nicole Chiu, 6-2, 6-2.

Kaitlin Link (Ontario, Canada) lost to Kate Sternberg of Cornell, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 5 singles and Ketevan Shmakova (Dover, NJ) fell at No. 6 singles to Melissa Tu, 6-3, 6-3.

The Scarlet Knights will be back in action on Wednesday, facing Colgate at 10 a.m. in Boca Raton, Fl. Their match against Lafayette, originally scheduled for Sunday but postponed due to inclement weather, was moved to Thursday at 9 a.m.

Rutgers 4, Cornell 3

Singles
No. 1 Andrea Weckstein (RU) def. Akane Kokubo (CU), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
No. 2 Carissa Sommerlad (RU) def. Laura Tallent (CU), 7-5, 7-5
No. 3 Jennifer Hellier (RU) def. Erika Takeuchi (CU), 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 Alina Balasa (RU) def. Nicole Chiu (CU), 6-2, 6-2
No. 5 Kate Sternberg (CU) def. Kaitlin Link (RU), 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 Melissa Tu (CU) def. Ketevan Shmakova (RU), 6-3, 6-3

Doubles
No. 1 Chiu/Kokubo (CU) def. Weckstein/Sommerlad (RU), 8-5
No. 2 Mollie Edinson/Liying Wang (CU) def. Hellier/Shmakova (RU), 8-5
No. 3 Tu/Takeuchi (CU) def. Jill Markowitz/Balasa (RU), 9-8 (8-6)