ITHACA, N.Y. – The men's tennis team gets back to work this week with a pair of matches at Reis Tennis Center. The Big Red plays host to Middle Tennessee State at 2 p.m. Friday before taking on 50^th-ranked Nebraska at 2 p.m. Saturday.
 
Cornell (5-4) is coming off a fourth-place finish at the ECAC Indoor Championships two weeks ago in Hanover, N.H. Cornell won its opening-round match against Brown before falling to Harvard and Dartmouth. Sophomore Stefan Vinti is 4-1 from the No. 1 singles spot, and junior Quoc-Daniel Nguyen and freshman Colin Sinclair are a combined 7-1 from the No. 6 position.
 
Middle Tennessee State (2-6) was ranked 61^st on Feb. 18, but fell out of the rankings after remaining idle over the weekend. The Blue Raiders' last action came Feb. 16, when it dropped its sixth straight against Northwestern before rebounding with a sweep of Tennessee State. MTSU was 19-8 last season and finished 48^th in the final national rankings. It was the second straight season the Blue Raiders finished the season ranked as they entered Conference USA this season. This will be the first meeting in Big Red and Blue Raiders history.
 
Nebraska (6-3) has its highest ranking of the season, riding a three-match winning streak into the weekend after victories against Creighton, Alabama-Birmingham and Georgia State. The Cornhuskers are in their season in the Big Ten, having finished last season ranked 62^nd in the country. It's the fifth straight year Nebraska finished the season ranked.
 
The Big Red and Cornhuskers have met just once before, with Nebraska earning an 8-1 victory on March 26, 1987 in Claremont, Calif.