ITHACA, N.Y. – The 53^rd-ranked men's tennis team was upended by Buffalo, 4-3, in its first dual match of the season Sunday at Reis Tennis Center. The teams split three singles matches after the Bulls secured the opening point by winning two of three doubles tilts.
 
Junior Sam Fleck and freshman Chris Vrabel, the 40^th-ranked doubles team in the nation, won their No. 1 doubles match against Damien David and Akhil Meta, 6-4. But the Big Red dropped the other two doubles matches to fall behind, 1-0. Cornell then suffered some untimely misfortune when Buffalo was awarded a point at No. 1 singles after an injury forfeit.
                                                                                     
The Big Red's three points came with victories at the bottom three singles positions. Freshman Colin Sinclair breezed to a straight-set victory at No. 6, and junior Alex Sidney also prevailed in two sets at No. 5. Trailing 3-2, Cornell evened the score with junior Quoc-Daniel Nguyen's three-set victory over Sergio Arevalillo at No. 4. The Bulls then secured their first victory in 25 all-time matches against the Big Red with a win at the No. 2 position.
 
Cornell returns to non-league action next weekend at Reis Tennis Center with matches against #69 Purdue (6 p.m. Saturday) and #74 George Washington (1 p.m. Sunday).
 
BUFFALO 4, #53 CORNELL 3
Sunday's results; at Reis Tennis Center; Ithaca, N.Y.
Doubles
1. #40 Sam Fleck/Chris Vrabel (C) def. Damien David/Akhil Meta, 6-4
2. Jonathan Hannestad/Sergio Arevalillo (B) def. Jason Luu/Quoc-Daniel Nguyen, 6-5
3. Pablo Alvarez/Sebastian Ionescu (B) def. Kyle Berman/Alex Sidney, 6-2
Singles
1. David (B) def. Fleck, 3-6, retired
2. Alvarez (B) def. Luu, 6-2, 3-6, 6-5
3. Ionescu (B) def. Vrabel, 6-4, 6-3
4. Nguyen (C) def. Arevadillo, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
5. Sidney (C) def. Mehta, 6-1, 6-5
6. Sinclair (C) def. Hammestad, 6-1, 6-3