ITHACA, N.Y.- The Cornell men's tennis team defended their home court and avenged last season's loss to Binghamton by defeating the Bearcats 5-2 in their first home match of the spring season. Cornell got a huge lift by sweeping the doubles matches to pick up the first point and then won four of the six singles matches to complete the victory.

Seniors Kyle Doppelt and Josh Goldstein got on the board first for the Big Red by easily securing an 8-2 victory over Gilbert Wong and Sven Vloedgraven while playing at the first doubles spot. At third doubles, Marc Asch and Mirza Klis were paired together and took on the tandem of Moshe Levy and Rafael Rodrigues. Ahead 7-5, and looking to secure the doubles point for Cornell, Mirza Klis hit a screamer of a return down the line at 30 all. One point later, the match was over, and the Big Red was up a point.

Rounding out doubles play were Andy Gauthier and Josh Feldman. The pair got off to a slow start, finding themselves down 5-2. They would rally to take the lead at 8-7, and ultimately hold on to win 9-7 to sweep the doubles matches.

The Big Red would extend their lead in the match to 2-0 behind a quick victory from freshman Andy Gauthier. Playing at the sixth spot, Gauthier dispatched Rafael Rodriguez in impressive fashion, winning 6-1, 6-0.

At fifth singles, Marc Asch was able to score yet another point for the Big Red by defeating Alexandre Haggai. After trading games early in the first set, Asch was able to break Haggai's serve to take a 4-3 lead, but quickly gave it back and fell behind 5-4. The two would hold serve and need a tiebreak to settle the first set. After being tied 3-3 in the tiebreak, Asch was able to win the next four points and take the first set. His momentum from the tiebreaker would carry into the second set, which he would win without dropping a game. The Big Red now held a 3-0 lead and would only have to take one of the final four singles matches to claim a victory.

At fourth singles, Jeremy Feldman got off to a sluggish start, dropping the first set 6-1 to Gilbert Wong. The second set was much more competitive, with both players digging in and forcing each other to hit winners to end some long rallies. Leading 5-4, Feldman was unable to serve out the set, and Wong capitalized, winning the next three games and taking the second set 7-5 to give Binghamton its first points of the match.

Much like Feldman, Josh Goldstein was unable to figure out his opponent to start off the match, dropping his first set 6-2 to Sven Vloedgraven. He would also battle back, playing an extremely competitive second set. However, serving at 5-4, he was also unable to close out the set, and Vloedgraven was able to take the next three games, winning the set 7-5 and pulling Binghamton to within a point.

Sophomore John Jaklitsch, who was playing his first match at the number one spot for the Big Red, would clinch a Cornell victory. In a match that featured many long rallies and hard fought points, Jaklistch was able to hold off Moshe Levy and claim a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

In the longest match of the night, junior John Fife proved his mental toughness in a grueling three setter against Arnav Jain. Fife fell behind Jain 5-2 in the first set but battled all the way back to force a tiebreaker. In a controversial tiebreaker, Jain would prevail 7-5 to take a one set lead. The match would continue to seesaw in the second set, with both players exhibiting high levels of skill and precision. Fife was able to break serve once in the set, and rode that break to a 6-4 win. The third set was a battle of attrition, with Fife able to outlast Jain and take the set 6-2, giving him the victory.

The Big Red men's tennis team will take the court next weekend at the ECAC Ivy Event held in Cambridge, Mass.

Final Score: Cornell 5 def Binghamton 2

Doubles:
1.  Doppelt/Goldstein (CU) def Wong/Vloedgraven (BU) 8-2
2.  Gauthier/Feldman (CU) def Jain/Haggai (BU) 9-7
3.  Asch/Klis (CU) def Levy/Rodrigues (BU) 8-5
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles
1.  Jaklitsch (CU) def Levy (BU) 6-2, 6-4
2.  Vloedgraven (BU) def Goldstein (CU) 6-2, 7-5
3.  Fife (CU) def Jain (BU) 6-7 (7-5), 6-4, 6-2
4.  Wong (BU) def Feldman (CU) 6-1, 7-5
5.  Asch (CU) def Haggai (BU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-0
6.  Gauthier (CU) def Rodrigues (BU) 6-1, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 5, 4, 2, 1, 3