NEW YORK — With a four-match winning streak in tow, the men's tennis begins the Ivy League portion of its schedule at 1 p.m. Saturday with a match against defending champion Columbia at Dick Savitt Tennis Center.
 
Cornell (8-5), which moved up six spots to 46th in this week's Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings, won a pair of home matches last week by a combined score of 13-1. The Big Red outlasted St. John's, 6-1, with four of its five singles victories coming in third sets, then it swept Buffalo in dominating fashion on Sunday. Sophomore Chris Vrabel is the Big Red's hottest player. He has won his last eight decision in singles play — all from the No. 5 position — including seven in straight sets. He has also paired with classmate Bernardo Casares Rosa to form the Big Red's No. 1 doubles entry, and the duo has won it's last four decisions. Senior and five-time All-Ivy selection Sam Fleck has teamed up with sophomore Colin Sinclair to go 8-0 in doubles, with all but one of those matches coming at the No. 2 position. Casares Rosa has won seven straight from the No. 3 spot, and junior Stefan Vinti has won four in a row at No. 2.
 
Saturday's match against the Lions poses a big test for Cornell, though half of the team's victories this season have come against teams ranked in the ITA's Top 75 — Texas-San Antonio, Iowa, Penn State and Old Dominion. The Lions not only won their 11th Ivy League title last season, they advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 after defeating Vanderbilt in the finals of an NCAA regional. Columbia enters this weekend with a 7-5 record and a national ranking of 26th following a win over California and losses to No. 1 Oklahoma and USC at last weekend's BNP Paribas Collegiate Challenge. Senior Winston Lin is 7-4 from the No. 1 singles position and ranked 21st in the country while No. 2 entry junior Dragos Ignat is ranked 105th. Lin and junior Mike Vermeer are 7-2 in doubles, mainly competing from the No. 2 position. They are one of the Lions' three ranked doubles teams.
 
Columbia leads the all-time series against the Big Red, 53-40-1, though Cornell has won four of the last seven meetings. The Big Red's last victory over Columbia was the biggest moment of the 2012-13 season, when it blew by the Lions by a 4-0 score in the ECAC Indoor Championships finals.
 
Live scores for the match will be posted here.