ITHACA, N.Y. – Freshmen Danny Riggs, Alex Sidney and Quoc-Daniel Nguyen won singles matches Saturday, but the men's tennis team lost its first Ivy League match since 2010 on Saturday with a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Columbia at Reis Tennis Center.
 
With the teams splitting the six singles matches, the decisive point came in doubles play. The Big Red freshman tandem of Jason Luu and Sam Fleck won its No. 2 match, 8-0, but the Lions were able to come out on top in tiebreakers in the other two matches to secure the opening points.
 
Columbia (14-2, 1-0 Ivy League) won its 10th consecutive match, using three-set victories at the top two spots. It was the 12th match this season in which Cornell (7-12, 0-1) faced a ranked opponent.
 
All three Cornell points came in straight-set victories, including Sidney's team-leading 10th of the season at the No. 5 spot over Columbia's Bert Vancura. Riggs defeated the Lions' Nathaniel Gery, 7-5, 6-1, at No. 3 and Nguyen came out on top of similar match at No. 6, 6-3, 7-5.
 
The Big Red will look to snap its four-game losing streak next weekend with 2 p.m. home matches on Saturday against Harvard and Sunday against Dartmouth at Reis Tennis Center. Cornell is the defending Ivy League champion after posting a 7-0 record in league play last season.
 
#52 COLUMBIA 4, CORNELL 3
Saturday, March 31
At Reis Tennis Center; Ithaca, N.Y.
Singles
1. #86 Haig Schneiderman (Col) def. Sam Fleck, 7-6, 3-6, 6-1
2. #102 Winston Lin (Col) def. Venkat Iyer, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
3. Danny Riggs (Cor) def. Nathaniel Gery, 7-5, 6-1
4. Ashok Narayana (Col) def. Jason Luu, 6-4, 6-3
5. Alex Sidney (Cor) def. Bert Vancura, 6-2, 7-6
6. Quoc-Daniel Nguyen (Cor) def. John Yetimoglu, 6-3, 7-5
Doubles
1. Narayana/Max Schnur (Col) def. Riggs/Sidney, 9-8
2. Luu/Fleck (Cor) def. Schneiderman/Lin, 8-0
3. Gery/Yetimoglu (Col) def. Evan McElwain/Iyer, 9-8
Record
Columbia 14-2, 0-1 Ivy; Cornell 7-12, 0-1