The Big Red tennis teams are back in action this weekend after a long winter break, as preparations continue for the 2014 Ivy League season. The women's team will compete Friday through Sunday at the Yale Classic, while the men's squad begins its dual season at 2 p.m. Sunday when its plays host to Buffalo at Reis Tennis Center.
 
The Yale Classic is a non-scoring blind dual tournament featuring Cornell, No. 36 Yale, St. John's and Boston College. The Big Red will take on players from St. John's at 10 a.m. Friday, Yale at 10 a.m. Saturday and Boston College at 9 a.m. Sunday. The Bulldogs have won at least a share of the Ivy League title in each of the last three years.
 
Freshman Marika Cusick posted the Cornell's best singles record in fall tournament play, racking up a 7-2 mark with victories in all three of her matches at the Akron Invitational. Classmate Alexandra D'Ascenzo (7-3) and senior Ryann Young (7-4) also had seven wins in the fall, with juniors Sara Perelman (6-3) and Lauren Frazier (6-4) close behind with six.
 
The Big Red doubles team of freshman Alexandra D'Ascenzo and sophomore Dena Tanenbaum are currently ranked 31^st in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. The Big Red returns to Ithaca, N.Y. for the Cornell Winter Invitational from Jan. 24-26 before kicking off dual-match play the following weekend.
 
The Cornell men's team was recently tabbed 53^rd in the country by the ITA, with the doubles team of junior Sam Fleck and freshman Chris Vrabel ranked 40^th nationally. The Big Red's freshmen had a particularly noteworthy fall tournament season, with Colin Sinclair posting an impressive 10-2 record (including a Black Bracket title at the UVa Fall Classic) and Vrabel going 9-3 (with a Pagoda Bracket championship at the Princeton/Farnsworth Invitational).
 
The Big Red is 24-0 all-time against Buffalo, with 7-0 victories in each of the last three years. The Bulls are coming off a 9-10 season in which it advanced to the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament. Buffalo lost former No. 1 Vusa Hove to graduation, but returns the next five top players from last season – including 2013 MAC Newcomer of the Year Pablo Alvarez.

Follow the Men's team's scores live online as they face Buffalo.